MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Democrat landslide questions President Bush's agenda

Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives and are one seat short, still disputed, from carrying the Senate according to the latest results from the United States mid term elections.

In the lower House Democrats totaled 226 seats out of 435 ending twelve years of Republican dominance whose numbers dropped to 190, and in the Senate if Virginia is confirmed they would reach the necessary 51 majority.

Of the 36 governorships for renewal, Democrats took 20 and now dominate in 28 states including the former Republican strongholds of New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland and Arkansas.

Analysts agree that Tuesday's Democrat landslide was greater than predicted turning President George Bush into a "lame duck" in his last two years unless he manages to strike some understandings with the Democrats in some of the clue issues of the campaign such as the Iraq war, corruption and "coziness" between big business and Congress, immigration, stem cells research, abortion, minimum salary and a general softening of the extreme conservative agenda of the Bush administration.

Besides the overall disenchantment with Republicans the "referendum" mid term election had an unpalatable personal setback for President Bush. Democrat Nancy Pelosi will not only be the first woman Speaker of the lower House and third in the presidential succession line, but the political rival he most vilified during the campaign.

"A vote for the Democrats is a vote to make House leader the woman who has said that capturing Osama Bin Laden won't make the Unites States more secure", was the message from the President in the final rallies.

Ms Pelosi was born in Baltimore but has done all her political career in San Francisco and has proved the only leader capable of having Democrats speak in a single voice on some of the more controversial issues.

Republicans accuse Pelosi of being "soft" on terrorism; wanting to leave Iraq; supporting gay marriages; tax increases and supporting a general amnesty for all illegal immigrants living in the US.

Exit balloting surveys showed voters concerned with Iraq, fuel prices, economic insecurity and the poor performance of the federal government when the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. Corruption scandals involving a leading Republican Senator and the evangelist preacher Ted Haggard also eroded the conservative foundation of Republicans.

Furthermore a few days before voting day, the dailies from the three US services and Marines published a common editorial demanding the removal of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for incompetence and having lost the confidence of the Pentagon brass.

Analysts say control of the House will allow Democrats to choose to launch inquiries into the handling of Iraq, and could lead to significant changes on domestic issues like taxation and health care.

President George W Bush has telephoned several top Congressional Democrats including Ms Pelosi to offer his congratulations.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pledged that the Democrats would work with "civility" and "partnership, not partisanship" in their newly empowered position. But she said the Bush administration's "stay the course" policy in Iraq was not working. "We cannot continue down this catastrophic path".

Some of the highlights of Tuesday voting: Hillary Clinton and a possible White House candidate was re-elected with 70% support.

Pennsylvania arch conservative Republican Senator Rick Santorum was defeated by Democrat Bob Casey and in Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown beat incumbent Republican Mike DeWine.

In New Jersey Democrat Bob Martinez succeeded in holding the seat.

In Connecticut Democrat Joe Lieberman who stood as an independent returns to the Senate as well as Vermont's independent Socialist Bernie Sandlers.

The Senate seat in Rhode Island went to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse after a closely-fought battle with incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee.

Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation's first Muslim member of Congress, taking a House seat in Minnesota.

Democrat Deval Patrick is set to become the first black governor of Massachusetts, while Arnold Schwarzenegger has won a second term as California governor.