Democrats sweep US Congress in election triumph

Democrats have completed their sweep of the US Congress by capturing control of the Senate, US media reported, handing President George W. Bush a stunning defeat that alters the political landscape for years to come.

A Democratic victory in a tight Senate race in Virginia late Wednesday capped a dramatic day of developments that earlier saw Bush dump his much-criticized Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the first casualty of an election seen as a referendum on the Iraq war.

US television networks and major newspapers based their reports of the Senate takeover on a survey of Virginia election districts conducted by the news agency Associated Press, which saw Democrat Jim Webb defeating Republican incumbent George Allen by some 7,200 votes out of a total of 2.3 million ballots.

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"The American people have spoken clearly and decisively in favor of Democrats leading this country in a new direction," Reid said in a statement.

"In Iraq and here at home, Americans have made clear they are tired of the failures of the last six years."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061109/ts_alt_afp/usvote_061109115646