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The world media considered Tuesday's sweeping Democrat victory as a rejection of Bush's leadership. (Reuters)
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CAIRO — US President George Bush and his
Republican party paid dearly for the unpopular Iraq war and corruption
scandals that have scarred Congress in a mid-term electoral earthquake
that swept Republicans from power in the two houses of Congress, the
world's press agreed on Thursday, November 9.
"It's the war, stupid," headlined The
Independent.
Without UN authorization, the Bush administration
invaded Iraq on claims of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, a
claim gainsaid by a later US presidential report.
The British daily said that the election results
have returned "a precious and long-lost commodity… to American
politics".
"It is called reality. It will be the
adjustments Bush has to make in the hope of saving some dignity in
Iraq and in the new personalities and power relationships that will
shape the presidential race in two years' time."
In a rout once considered almost inconceivable,
Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of
Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party.
Democrats had 229 seats in the House, 11 more than
the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the
435-member chamber.
The shift dramatically alters the government's
balance of power, leaving Bush without congressional control to drive
his legislative agenda.
Politically Humbled
The New York Times said that Tuesday's election
results dealt a stunning blow to the Bush administration.
"There was only one explanation for the
crazy-quilt combination of (Democrat) victories around the country
...: an angry repudiation of the Bush White House and the abysmal way
the Republican majority has run Congress," it said in an
editorial.
The Washington Post agreed that Tuesday's electoral
earthquake reflected the public disgust with the Iraq war and the
increasing US casualties there.
"Most critically, perhaps, Republicans lost
the political centre on the Iraq war, according to national exit
polls," said the daily.
At least 2,836 US soldiers have been killed and
thousands wounded since the 2003 Iraq invasion.
A politically humbled Bush has admitted the impact
of the unpopular Iraq war on his party's major loss.
"I recognize that many Americans voted last
night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being
made there," he said.
Bush has already conceded to mounting demands,
especially from Democrats, to replace Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, who has come to symbolize the administration's unwillingness
to change a policy that has failed to bring order to Iraq and that has
lost popular support at home.
Bush's Leadership
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"There was a number of factors, including corruption…continued scandals that, along with Iraq, contributed to our downfall," McCain said.
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The world media also considered the sweeping
Democrat victory a rejection of Bush's leadership.
"American Zero: At last, US wakes up and boots
idiot Bush," headlined the Daily Mirror.
The Financial Times also blamed Bush's policies for
Tuesday's crushing Congress defeat.
"Americans have at last started to hold to
account the Republican leadership and the administration of George W.
Bush for their incompetence and disdain for the law, and for the way
they have dragged America's reputation through the mud and muddle of
the Middle East," it said.
"Under the stewardship of Bush and his allies,
America has come to be regarded as a greater threat than theocratic
Iran in most of the world."
A recent opinion poll has showed that the majority
of Britons considered Bush as the most dangerous threat to world
peace, running close to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The Guardian said the world owed US voters
"deep gratitude" for beginning the process towards a
"different and better United States".
"Donald Rumsfeld's resignation last night was
a fitting climax to the voters' verdict. Thank you, America," it
said in an editorial.
In South Korea, the left-leaning Hankyoreh daily
said that US voters had rejected the Bush administration's unilateral
foreign policy approach.
"The biggest fault for Bush was that he
exploited Americans' fear sparked by 9/11 terrorist attacks to bring
his country to the extreme right," it said.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post editorial said
Americans had "voted out one-party government".
"The US will no longer be run by a Republican
leadership that has behaved as if control of the White House and
Congress gave it a right to set aside the balance of powers laid down
in the constitution," the daily said.
The Manila Times said Bush was "the biggest
loser" of Tuesday's vote.
Corruption
The media and US Senators also blamed the
scandal-plagued Republican Congress for the crushing Republican
defeat.
"The polls tell us that two great issues
dominated this election -- the Iraq war and the 'sleaze' factor in
congress," Australia's Sydney Morning Herald said.
According to a CNN exit poll, 41% of voters cited
corruption as their top concern.
"I think the issue of corruption is an issue
that the Democrats have pushed very, very hard on," said
Democratic National Committee chief Howard Dean.
"We simply have too much corruption in our
government, too much corruption in Washington," he added.
Bush acknowledged Wednesday that the ethical lapses
of some of his Republicans contributed to Tuesday's
"thumping" by the Democrats.
Republican Senator John McCain said a survey
conducted by the Republican National Committee found that the
Republican Party lost 19 seats because of corruption.
"And so there was a number of factors,
including corruption, including our spending practices, including
these continued scandals that, along with Iraq, contributed to our
downfall," McCain said.
The Republicans have been scandalized by many
corruption cases.
Former representative Randy "Duke"
Cunningham was jailed in March for more than eight years for taking
2.4 million dollars in bribes in return for influencing defense
contracts.
Republican lawmaker Bob Ney has pleaded guilty to a
wide conspiracy of fraud and influence-peddling linked to a corruption
scandal involving disgraced super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The former powerful House majority leader, Tom
DeLay, also resigned his leadership post in January after a Texas
grand jury indicted him for campaign finance violations and later left
Congress.
Republicans also faced an embarrassing scandal
before the election when Mark Foley resigned as Florida representative
following revelations that he had sent sexually explicit electronic
messages to underaged male congressional pages.
