President George Bush’s job is a lot tougher this morning, after the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, breaking the conservative monopoly of power in Washington and clearing the way for congressional investigations into the conduct of the Iraq war.
Democrats take control of House (Guardian)
Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker said voters’ unease about the war is similar to Americans’ attitudes in the 1966 election when they sought to send President Lyndon Johnson a message about the Vietnam War.
American people sent ‘unmistakable message’ (Chicago Tribune)
Almost a third of white evangelicals, a key part of the GOP base, voted Democratic. Middle class voters who defected to the Republican side a dozen years ago came back into the Democratic fold Tuesday.
Midterm voters sound the call for change (AP)
At the center of all this will be Bush, who enters the final phase of his presidency with an opposition House and the sting of a campaign in which he was deemed to be an albatross. Bush arrived at Election Day with a lower approval rating than any other president in a midterm since Harry S. Truman in 1946.
A Voter Rebuke For Bush, the War And the Right (Washington Post)
“It’s a good night to be a politician,” said Todd Akin, an officeholder from Missouri. “The American people have spoken, and they have unanimously declared: ‘We want elected officials to lead this nation.’”
Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections (Onion)
Added, now that the permalink is finally up:
Everything is different now for President Bush. The era of one-party Republican rule in Washington ended with a crash in yesterday’s midterm elections, putting a proudly unyielding president on notice that the voters want change, especially on the war in Iraq.
A Loud Message for Bush (New York Times)
Don’t forget that South Dakotans defeated their ban on abortion! Truly, a good day in America.
And for the first time in the United States, a woman is Speaker of the House.