After the Vote

The people have spoken and it's house-cleaning time in Washington DC.

Just two years after a newly-re-elected President Bush trumpeted his "political capital" and Karl Rove dreamed of a "permanent majority" for the GOP, the Democrats have retaken the House and made a mighty run — outcome still unclear — for the Senate majority.

It is the biggest defeat of George W. Bush's presidency, forged in voter unhappiness over war and corruption. The Republican Revolution of 1994 has folded its tent. Democrats are back from the wilderness, but with more moderate new winners headed for Congress.

Hear about the message from the voters in the game-changing midterms of 2006.

Quotes from the Show:

"The big message is that the strategy by both parties of digging into their voter base failed this time around." Karen Tumulty

"The voters of this country send the people to Washington with trust. ... There is a sense of accountability in this election." David Gergen

"The message from the voters is that they want a return to a sensible center." David Gergen

"There are going to be a number of pressure points on Iraq coming in the next few months." Karen Tumulty

"In both houses, we are going to have many fractious caucuses among Democrats." Karen Tumulty

"The outcome of this election s partly a referendum on Bush's failed policies but also a message that people want Congress to move forward on domestic issues." Congressman Chris Van Hollen

"It's not payback time but we [Democrats] are going to ask the hard questions — on Iraq and security issues." Congressman Chris Van Hollen

"We [Republicans] haven't given the American people much in results and they punished us for it." Congressman Patrick McHenry

"The punishment in this election has a lot to do with Iraq, spending, and scandals." Congressman Patrick McHenry

"A majority of American people believe the government is too big and is doing too much." Congressman Patrick McHenry

Guests:

Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for Time magazine.;
David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He served as an advisor to four Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton.;
David Yepsin, columnist for The Des Moines Register.

Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC);
Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD);
Kathleen Frankovic, CBS News Director of Surveys.