|
Washington, Nov.8 (ANI): Decks have been cleared for House Minority Leader Representative Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California) to take over as the first woman Speaker of the U.S.House of Representatives in the country's 230-year-long history.
Pelosi's landmark achievement has been made possible by the Democrats sweeping to a majority in the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections onTuesday, as voters delivered a resounding negative vote to the Bush Administration and the ruling Republicans over the unpopular war in Iraq, the rash of scandals hitting the Grand Old Party (GOP) in several states, and a host of key domestic issues like immigration, education, minimum wage increases at the federal level, civil liberties and foreign policy.
In a late night speech on Tuesday, Pelosi said: "Tonight is a great victory for the American people. Today the American people voted for change, and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction. This vote is a mandate to restore stability and bipartisanship" in Washington and for "a new direction" in the war in Iraq.
Recalling Bush's statement of staying the course on the war in Iraq, Pelosi said: "Stay the course' has not made our country safer, has not honored our commitment to our troops and has not made the region more stable. We cannot continue down this catastrophic path."
She called on the Bush administration to work with Democrats "to find a solution to the war in Iraq."
The Senate, however, remained up for grabs, with the Democrats winning four of the six Republican seats they needed for a majority there. Control of the Senate thus appeared to hinge on key races in Virginia and Montana. In Virginia, Republican Senator George Allen trailed Democrat James Webb by fewer than 3,000 votes with almost all precincts reporting, no winner had been declared as of early Wednesday. Experts watching the proceedings in the state confirmed the possibility of a recount between Wednesday and Thursday.
In Montana, challenger Jon Tester, the Democratic president of the state Senate, was leading in a race to unseat Republican Conrad Burns, a veteran senator tainted by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
According to major American dailies like the Washinton Times, the Washington Post and the New York Times, lines of voters developed quickly at the polls in the states, as Democrats pushed for gains and Republicans hoped a last-minute campaign and turnout push would leave them in control of both chambers of Congress.
Some candidates celebrated victories on Tuesday while others conceded defeat as the results from the 2006 midterm elections were tallied late into the night.
In Missouri, Republican incumbent James M. Talent conceded defeat early Wednesday to Democrat Claire McCaskill, the state auditor. "Our efforts fell a little bit short," he said. Minutes earlier, McCaskill had declared victory after opening a narrow lead with 85 percent of precincts reporting.
In Tennessee, the GOP held the seat being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, as Bob Corker, the Republican former mayor of Chattanooga, defeated Democratic Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr., who had hoped to become the first black senator elected from the South since Reconstruction.
Bush, who was monitoring the election results at the White House after voting in the morning in Crawford, Texas, made no public comment as the results came in.
Though there are predictions being made of sweeping changes taking place in the all-important committee system of the House of Representatives and a possible power shift in Washington, following the Democratic victory, there is a view that bipartisanship will eventually be encouraged to ensure that policy matters don't get stymied during George W Bush's final two years in the White House. (ANI)
|
