House of Representatives goes to the Democrats
Nov 8, 2006 17:50:39 GMT -5
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Nov 8, 2006 17:50:39 GMT -5
The Democrats are rolling along. They already have one house in Congress and the Senate looks like it's going down to the wire. Miserable times for Bush Jr. me thinks.
Anyone care to speculate on how this will affect Canada?
Control of Senate hangs on tight race in Virginia
Updated Wed. Nov. 8 2006 2:16 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Hours after taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years, the Democrats wiped away the Republican Senate majority with a close victory in Montana.
"It was a thumpin,'" U.S. President George Bush told reporters at a White House news conference.
Democrat Jon Tester, an organic grain farmer who lost three fingers in a meat grinder, emerged the victor in a contest with three-term Sen. Conrad Burns, who was weakened politically by his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Tester held a 3,128-vote lead over Burns with only one county left to count its votes. That county had fewer than 1,000 votes to report.
Tester's win means the election so far of 48 Democratic senators, as well as two Democratic-voting independents: Connecticut's Joseph Lieberman and Vermont's Bernie Sanders.
Now the battle for outright control came down to Virginia, Democratic challenger James Webb holds a razor-thin lead over Republican incumbent George Allen.
State law says the loser automatically has the right to demand a recount if the difference is less than one per cent.
Webb, a former Navy secretary under former President Ronald Reagan, claimed victory early Wednesday.
But with a margin tight enough for a possible recount Allen was not conceding.
A final count, including all absentee ballots, was expected later Wednesday.
Republicans and Democrats both sent lawyers to the state to tally uncounted absentee ballots Wednesday, as well as canvass votes counted on Election Day.
With Democrats now assured of 50 Senate seats, presuming the two independent members will side with the Democrats, Vice President Dick Cheney wields tie-breaking authority.
Americans "have come to the conclusion, as we did some time ago, that a one-party town simply doesn't work," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told party workers early this morning.
Reid said a strong Democratic turnout in both Senate and House races shows "we must change course in Iraq."
Experts say the narrow governing majorities in the U.S. Congress are certain to cause more gridlock and political warfare during Bush's final two years in the White House.
Bush congratulates Democrats
In a press conference on Wednesday, Bush congratulated the Democrats on their victory but admitted he was disappointed with the election results.
"I'm obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election and as the head of the Republican Party I share a large part of the responsibility," Bush said.
"I believe that the leaders of both political parties must try to work through our differences and I believe we will be able to work through differences," Bush said.
The president said he has assured the House and Senate that he intends to work with the new congress in a bi-partisan way.
"I invited them to come to the White House in the coming days to discuss the important work remaining this year and to begin conversations about the agenda next year."
By Wednesday morning, Democrats captured at least 28 seats in the House, leaving them firmly in control.
Up for grabs were: all 435 seats in the House of Representatives; 33 of the 100 Senate seats; and 36 of the 50 governorships, and thousands of state legislative and local races.
In his press conference on Wednesday, Bush said he would seek to find "common ground" with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first female House Majority Leader in history, but without either of them compromising their principles.
Tight races
While votes are tallied in Virginia, Senator Conrad Burns and Democrat Jon Tester in Montana are locked in a tight contest early Wednesday.
With 99 per cent of ballots counted, Tester had a slight lead of less than 2,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.
In one tight Senate race in Tennessee, Democrat Harold Ford was unable to beat Republican Bob Corker. Ford would have been the first black man elected to the Senate from the South in more than a century.
Results also suggested a Democratic win in Ohio, where Rep. Sherrod Brown is projected to defeat incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine.
One of the first Republican senators to be defeated was Rick Santorum, who lost his seat in Pennsylvania to Democrat Bob Casey. He was the third-ranking Republican in the Senate and one of the Democrats' biggest targets this year.
Republicans seem headed for a third Senate loss in Rhode Island, where Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse is leading incumbent Lincoln Chafee.
In a hotly contested race in New Jersey, Senator Bob Menendez held off a strong challenge from Republican Tom Kean Jr., son of a former governor. Some analysts considered the state one of the key Senate races Democrats need to win in order to secure a majority.
Analysis
Analysts widely predicted Democrats would regain a majority in the House, with Republicans hurt by a series of scandals and the public's growing unease with the Iraq war.
Democrats tried to portray the midterms as a referendum on the presidency of Bush.
"This was a president who has lost the confidence of the American people," said presidential historian and professor at the American University in Washington, Allan Lichtman.
"His approval rating was much lower than Bill Clinton's was when the Republicans took over the Congress in 1994."
Americans also have lost confidence in the Iraq war, added Lichtman. "They don't believe that the course we're on in Iraq is going to lead to a successful end any time soon. Americans and Iraqis seem to be dying to no end."
As for the "culture of corruption" that Democrats said the Republicans spawned in Washington, they "didn't seem to be just an accident to the American people," said Lichtman.
"They seemed to be endemic to a Republican party that has grown arrogant and that seemed much too sold-out to the interests of its big business clients."
This year saw four Republican House members resign under a cloud of questionable ethics, including allegations of influence peddling, links to convicted lobbyists and a sex scandal involving Republican Rep. Mark Foley's lewd text messages to teenage male congressional assistants.
"I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made'' in Iraq, the president said.
But he added that there were other contributing factors that affected Republicans as well.
"People want their congressmen to be honest and ethical. In some races that was the primary factor," Bush said.
"There were different factors that determined the outcome of different races but no question Iraq was on people's minds," Bush said.
Other developments
* Appearing on state ballots were dozens of referendums, some dealing with issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Voters in South Dakota voted down a ballot measure that would ban nearly all abortions in the state, allowing the procedure only to save a pregnant woman's life. South Dakotans were also among those in eight states considering bans on gay marriage.
* So far, voters in South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin have approved such bans.
* More voters than ever used electronic voting machines, and problems were reported across the country, prompting officials to extend voting in some areas.
With files from The Associated Press
CTV reports
Anyone care to speculate on how this will affect Canada?
Control of Senate hangs on tight race in Virginia
Updated Wed. Nov. 8 2006 2:16 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Hours after taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years, the Democrats wiped away the Republican Senate majority with a close victory in Montana.
"It was a thumpin,'" U.S. President George Bush told reporters at a White House news conference.
Democrat Jon Tester, an organic grain farmer who lost three fingers in a meat grinder, emerged the victor in a contest with three-term Sen. Conrad Burns, who was weakened politically by his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Tester held a 3,128-vote lead over Burns with only one county left to count its votes. That county had fewer than 1,000 votes to report.
Tester's win means the election so far of 48 Democratic senators, as well as two Democratic-voting independents: Connecticut's Joseph Lieberman and Vermont's Bernie Sanders.
Now the battle for outright control came down to Virginia, Democratic challenger James Webb holds a razor-thin lead over Republican incumbent George Allen.
State law says the loser automatically has the right to demand a recount if the difference is less than one per cent.
Webb, a former Navy secretary under former President Ronald Reagan, claimed victory early Wednesday.
But with a margin tight enough for a possible recount Allen was not conceding.
A final count, including all absentee ballots, was expected later Wednesday.
Republicans and Democrats both sent lawyers to the state to tally uncounted absentee ballots Wednesday, as well as canvass votes counted on Election Day.
With Democrats now assured of 50 Senate seats, presuming the two independent members will side with the Democrats, Vice President Dick Cheney wields tie-breaking authority.
Americans "have come to the conclusion, as we did some time ago, that a one-party town simply doesn't work," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told party workers early this morning.
Reid said a strong Democratic turnout in both Senate and House races shows "we must change course in Iraq."
Experts say the narrow governing majorities in the U.S. Congress are certain to cause more gridlock and political warfare during Bush's final two years in the White House.
Bush congratulates Democrats
In a press conference on Wednesday, Bush congratulated the Democrats on their victory but admitted he was disappointed with the election results.
"I'm obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election and as the head of the Republican Party I share a large part of the responsibility," Bush said.
"I believe that the leaders of both political parties must try to work through our differences and I believe we will be able to work through differences," Bush said.
The president said he has assured the House and Senate that he intends to work with the new congress in a bi-partisan way.
"I invited them to come to the White House in the coming days to discuss the important work remaining this year and to begin conversations about the agenda next year."
By Wednesday morning, Democrats captured at least 28 seats in the House, leaving them firmly in control.
Up for grabs were: all 435 seats in the House of Representatives; 33 of the 100 Senate seats; and 36 of the 50 governorships, and thousands of state legislative and local races.
In his press conference on Wednesday, Bush said he would seek to find "common ground" with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first female House Majority Leader in history, but without either of them compromising their principles.
Tight races
While votes are tallied in Virginia, Senator Conrad Burns and Democrat Jon Tester in Montana are locked in a tight contest early Wednesday.
With 99 per cent of ballots counted, Tester had a slight lead of less than 2,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.
In one tight Senate race in Tennessee, Democrat Harold Ford was unable to beat Republican Bob Corker. Ford would have been the first black man elected to the Senate from the South in more than a century.
Results also suggested a Democratic win in Ohio, where Rep. Sherrod Brown is projected to defeat incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine.
One of the first Republican senators to be defeated was Rick Santorum, who lost his seat in Pennsylvania to Democrat Bob Casey. He was the third-ranking Republican in the Senate and one of the Democrats' biggest targets this year.
Republicans seem headed for a third Senate loss in Rhode Island, where Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse is leading incumbent Lincoln Chafee.
In a hotly contested race in New Jersey, Senator Bob Menendez held off a strong challenge from Republican Tom Kean Jr., son of a former governor. Some analysts considered the state one of the key Senate races Democrats need to win in order to secure a majority.
Analysis
Analysts widely predicted Democrats would regain a majority in the House, with Republicans hurt by a series of scandals and the public's growing unease with the Iraq war.
Democrats tried to portray the midterms as a referendum on the presidency of Bush.
"This was a president who has lost the confidence of the American people," said presidential historian and professor at the American University in Washington, Allan Lichtman.
"His approval rating was much lower than Bill Clinton's was when the Republicans took over the Congress in 1994."
Americans also have lost confidence in the Iraq war, added Lichtman. "They don't believe that the course we're on in Iraq is going to lead to a successful end any time soon. Americans and Iraqis seem to be dying to no end."
As for the "culture of corruption" that Democrats said the Republicans spawned in Washington, they "didn't seem to be just an accident to the American people," said Lichtman.
"They seemed to be endemic to a Republican party that has grown arrogant and that seemed much too sold-out to the interests of its big business clients."
This year saw four Republican House members resign under a cloud of questionable ethics, including allegations of influence peddling, links to convicted lobbyists and a sex scandal involving Republican Rep. Mark Foley's lewd text messages to teenage male congressional assistants.
"I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made'' in Iraq, the president said.
But he added that there were other contributing factors that affected Republicans as well.
"People want their congressmen to be honest and ethical. In some races that was the primary factor," Bush said.
"There were different factors that determined the outcome of different races but no question Iraq was on people's minds," Bush said.
Other developments
* Appearing on state ballots were dozens of referendums, some dealing with issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Voters in South Dakota voted down a ballot measure that would ban nearly all abortions in the state, allowing the procedure only to save a pregnant woman's life. South Dakotans were also among those in eight states considering bans on gay marriage.
* So far, voters in South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin have approved such bans.
* More voters than ever used electronic voting machines, and problems were reported across the country, prompting officials to extend voting in some areas.
With files from The Associated Press
CTV reports