memeorandum: What happened last night? (Ann Althouse/Althouse)

7:00 PM ET, November 8, 2006

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Rumsfeld quitting as defense secretary — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush announced Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down from his post. — "The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said at the White House Wednesday afternoon.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NewDonkey.com, War and Piece, Blogcritics Section, democracyarsenal.org, State of the Day, David E's Fablog, Whiskey Bar, Swords Crossed and PoliBlog (TM)

Think Progress:

VIDEO: Bush Admits He Lied About Rumsfeld For Political Purposes » — Last week, President Bush unequivocally told a group of reporters that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney would "remain with him until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Political Pit Bull, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog, King of Zembla and Seeing the Forest

Jim Young / MSNBC:

Bush announces Rumsfeld stepping down — President taps ex-CIA chief Gates to replace embattled defense secretary — After six years on the job, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will resign, President said Wednesday. — NBC VIDEO … WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld …

Discussion: Hot Air, Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, Tom Watson, Iowa Voice and Macsmind

Fox News:

DONALD RUMSFELD RESIGNING AS DEFENSE SECRETARY — WASHINGTON — Donald H. Rumsfeld is stepping down as defense secretary and former CIA Director Robert Gates will be nominated to take his place. — Rumsfeld, President Bush's sole defense secretary in six years of leadership …

Discussion: Hot Air, Townhall.com Blog's …, Don Surber, Confederate Yankee, The Jawa Report, On Deadline, Hang Right Politics and Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

White House:

Press Conference by the President — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I say, why all the glum faces? — Yesterday, the people went to the polls and they cast their vote for a new direction in the House of Representatives. And while the ballots are still being counted in the Senate …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Crooks and Liars, The Swamp and Shakespeare's Sister

William Branigin / Washington Post:

Rumsfeld to Step Down as Defense Secretary — Bush Taps Former CIA Director Robert Gates as Successor — President Bush today announced he is replacing Donald H. Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, saying a "fresh perspective" is needed at the Pentagon to deal with the war in Iraq.

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, The Sundries Shack, Harry's Place and Sound Politics

Associated Press:

Bush says Rumsfeld is stepping down — WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary on Wednesday, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses. — President Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates …

Discussion: American Footprints, NewsHog, protein wisdom, Truthdig, Pam's House Blend, The Road to Surfdom and Dohiyi Mir

David Stout / New York Times:

Rumsfeld Resigns as Defense Secretary After Big Election Gains for Democrats — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the hard-driving and super-confident Pentagon boss who came to symbolize President Bush's controversial Iraq policy, is resigning, President Bush announced today.

Discussion: Political Animal, Blogcritics Section, The Reaction, CorrenteWire and Althouse

The Allen Report:

President Bush's Opening Gambit for Surviving Divided Government — Despite his dramatically weakened political position, the President plans to stand up to Democrats and challenge them to work with him on issues he has been promoting. But the opposition now has little reason to cave.

Discussion: Political Radar, The Mahablog, The Heretik and Think Progress

Washington Post:

Democrats Reclaim House; Control of Senate Pending — Democrats easily recaptured the House last night, but control of the Senate hung in the balance today, after a bitter midterm election campaign dominated by war, scandal and questions about President Bush's leadership.

Discussion: Instapundit.com, INDCJournal and The Democratic Daily

Kristin Roberts / Reuters: Democrats' win alone won't drive Rumsfeld out

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

No. — I ask you, considering the margins that we are looking at this morning in a whole lot of the races that the Democrats won yesterday, in both the House and the Senate, what was Rahm Emmanuel thinking saying this: … Let me get this straight, we have just taken back the House and …

Discussion: TAPPED, The Huffington Post, JustOneMinute, MaxSpeak, Suburban Guerrilla, Macsmind, The Sideshow and Sister Toldjah

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Washington Post:

A Voter Rebuke For Bush, the War And the Right — The political pendulum in American politics swung away from the right yesterday, putting an end to the 12-year Republican Revolution on Capitol Hill and delivering a sharp rebuke of President Bush and the Iraq war.

Discussion: New York Times, Confederate Yankee, protein wisdom, The Strata-Sphere, TalkLeft, Redstate, The Huffington Post, Hyscience, Decision '08, The Agonist, The Glittering Eye, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Heretik

Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:
Bush likely to resist calls for major change

Discussion: Telegraph, The Hill, CNN, MyDD, Is That Legal? and TPMCafe blogs

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:

Democrats win House; Senate now tied — WASHINGTON - Democrats won a cliffhanger race in Montana on Wednesday that brought them to the brink of control of the Senate, after Americans sick of scandal and weary of war ended the Republican majority in the House.

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull, Sister Toldjah and Truthdig

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Hugh Hewitt / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:

The Good News And The Bad — I have to assume that the Dems will get the Senate as well as the House, though Conrad Burns may be able to pull off an upset, in which case I hope the GOP in the Senate reject the silly rules they agreed to the last time the body was 50/50.

New York Times:

In Virginia, Webb Is Confident — Jim Webb, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Virginia who leads Senator George Allen, a Republican, by about 7,000 votes, began planning his transition to the Senate today, confident that the margin would survive state scrutiny or any legal challenge, aides said.

Discussion: Washington Post, Election Law, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and The New York Observer …

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Howard Schneider / Washington Post:
Challenger Maintains Lead Over Sen. Burns

Discussion: Whiskey Bar, The Caucus and CNN Political Ticker

John O'Neil / New York Times:
A Virginia Recount Would Not Come Soon

Discussion: Election Law, Inactivist, Outside The Beltway, A Tiny Revolution and Wonkette

Bull Moose:

KOSenfreude* — The Moose gloats and kvells. — There is great joy in Mooseland. The nutroots have struck out. Joe Lieberman has prevailed. The vital center is victorious! — Read and weep, dear nutroots, … Yes, there is justice. Joe took a brave stand by putting country before party.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Taylor Marsh, The Political Pit Bull and Blue Crab Boulevard

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Jennifer Medina / New York Times:
'Liberated' Lieberman Likely to Be Courted by Both Sides

Discussion: Reason Magazine

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

What happened last night? — Waking up this morning in my quiet hotel room, I realize how insanely hard it was to try to watch the election returns at that blogger party at Tryst. The notion that we were in some way bringing you the news is utterly absurd.

Discussion: New York Times, Dohiyi Mir and Lawyers, Guns and Money