From the NewsMax.com Staff

For the story behind the story...

Bush Says Elections Were a 'Thumping'

Reprint Information

Book on Katie Couric Makes Waves White House: We're Not Subject to FOIA FBI Seeks 2 Mysterious Men on Ferry Publisher: Conservatives Do Read As Much As Liberals Romney Shrugs Off Mormon History Film

WASHINGTON -- Punched in the gut by voters, President Bush acknowledged Wednesday Democrats gave his Republicans a "thumping" and said he would try to make the most of the new political landscape in his last two years.

At a White House East Room news conference, Bush seemed in remarkably good humor for a leader whose party had just lost control of at least a half of the U.S. Congress and quite possibly the other half as well in Tuesday's elections.

"Look, this is a close election. If you look at race by race, it was close. The cumulative effect, however, was not too close. It was a thumping," he said.

He quickly announced the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose scalp had long been demanded by Democrats, while insisting the decision for him to leave had been made before Election Day.

Story Continues Below

  Bush, who as Texas governor from 1995 to 2000 worked cooperatively with conservative Democrats, emphasized his desire for bipartisanship on issues that will consume the rest of his presidency: Iraq, changes to the Social Security pension system and immigration reform.

He abruptly shifted from his hot campaign rhetoric.

Democrats were no longer soft on terrorism, but rather, they "care about the security of the country, like I do," and "Democrats are going to support our troops just like Republicans will."

"The message yesterday was clear: The American people want their leaders in Washington to set aside partisan differences, conduct ourselves in an ethical manner, and work together to address the challenges facing our nation," Bush said.

Bush had spent days on the campaign trail saying California Rep. Nancy Pelosi loves taxes and thinks she is going to be speaker of the House of Representatives "but she's not."

She had variously described Bush as incompetent and dangerous.

But on Wednesday morning Bush phoned her to offer his congratulations on her pending ascension as head of the House.

And after days of mocking her for already "measuring the drapes" of her prospective new office on Capitol Hill before Election Day, he joked that he told her he had some Republican interior decorators she might want to try for the job.

"You know, look, people say unfortunate things at times. But if you hold grudges in this line of work, you're never going to get anything done. And my intention is to get some things done, and soon," he said.

Pelosi was invited to the White House for lunch on Thursday to talk about the way forward. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who will probably be the majority leader, will be over for talks over coffee on Friday.

Sitting off to the side in the East Room was Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, who had winning election strategies in 2000, 2002 and 2004 but whose efforts to turn out conservative voters fell short against the tide this year.

Bush could not resist a good-natured dig at Rove when asked who was ahead in his competition with Rove on who could read the most books.

"I'm losing. I obviously was working harder in the campaign than he was," he said to gales of laughter.

Copyright Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Editor's note: