Analysis: War Weary Voters Demand Change

Jonathan Quintanilla, left, Ludwing Verbena, center, and Jorge Ortega, right, eat their lunch at a McDonald's restaurant while voters cast their ballots in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) (Nick Ut - AP)

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic takeover of the House presents President Bush with the first serious challenge to his conduct of the war in Iraq and drastically changes the balance of power in Washington.

Angry at Bush and weary of a war in its fourth year, Americans sent a clear call for change to the White House and to Republican lawmakers who have marched loyally in step behind the commander in chief.

To make sure their voices were heard, voters threw Republicans from power in the House for the first time in a dozen years and weakened the GOP's grip on the Senate. And Democrats stand ready to influence the nation's agenda and put the brakes on Bush's proposals.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in line to become the first female speaker of the House, said Bush's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq must change. "Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq," Pelosi said. "Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq."

But it is not at all clear what that solution would be. Some Democrats are demanding troop withdrawals. Others oppose that step. Many Democrats and some Republicans demand the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bush says he wants him to stay.

"The biggest message coming out of this election is that the Iraq policy of this administration has failed," said Leon Panetta, a onetime Democratic congressman who was Bill Clinton's chief of staff. "The Democrats don't have an answer either." Panetta is a member of a blue-ribbon commission exploring Iraq options.

The Democratic upheaval reversed the Republican revolution launched by Newt Gingrich in 1994. For Bush, it means he will have to compromise with an opposition Congress for the first time or use the veto pen that he's picked up only once.

Democrats and even some Republicans campaigned against Bush's proposals on immigration, Social Security, stem cell research and his willingness to tolerate a deficit-financed government.

Some Republicans think divided government is a prescription for more gridlock in Washington. "This crowd (of Democrats) doesn't want to have any bill signing ceremonies with George Bush," said Ed Rogers, a Republican consultant who worked in the first Bush White House.

Six years into Bush's administration, the election stood as a referendum on his presidency, which has been weakened by high gasoline prices, economic insecurity and the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina. Far more voters said national issues mattered more than local issues in their House vote, and a majority worried that the nation is seriously off on the wrong track.

All around, it was a bad night for the president and his political mastermind, Karl Rove, who shaped an aggressive political strategy that won Bush the governor's office in Texas and then the White House.

Almost three in ten white evangelicals, a key part of the GOP base, voted Democratic. Democrats also won support from key groups that Republicans had raided when they took control in 1994.