Democrats win control of Senate, AP reports

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/...ain/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats will control both the House and Senate after Jim Webb won a Senate seat by about 7,200 votes in Virginia, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Webb will have a formal press conference Thursday morning to officially declare victory, an aide said.

A source close to Sen. George Allen says the Republican incumbent wants to make clear he "has no intention of dragging this out."

CNN does not declare a winner when race results are less than 1 percent and the potential loser may request a recount vote.

A victory by Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, would give Democrats a 51-49 seat advantage.

President Bush and Democratic leaders Wednesday were talking up a new era of cooperation -- but warned neither would roll over for the other.

As control of the House moves to the Democrats, Bush said immigration and minimum wage measures were areas of common ground to discuss when he meets Democratic speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi Thursday.

"We can work together over the next two years," the president said.

But he added: "She's not going to abandon her principles, and I'm not going to abandon mine. But I do believe we have an opportunity to find some common ground to move forward on."

Pelosi, in line to be first female Speaker of the House, told CNN: "Democrats are ready to lead, prepared to govern and absolutely willing to work in a bipartisan way."

She has previously said a Democratic-led Congress will not be a rubber stamp for the White House. On Wednesday, she said she hopes there will be cooperation with congressional investigations -- part of the checks-and-balances system built into the Constitution.

Pelosi early Wednesday repeated a call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to go, and just hours later the president announced his loyal aide was resigning -- a decision Bush said was made before the election.

"The president got the message, thank heavens," Pelosi said. "I think it signals a new change, I hope for the better, in Iraq."

Bush nominated Robert Gates to fill Rumsfeld's vacancy. Gates is an ex-CIA chief who also worked on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that is making recommendations to Bush on how to proceed in Iraq.

If the Virginia result is confirmed, Democrats will take over the Senate and the House of Representatives in January, and Bush said he would work with whomever was in charge.

Bush admitted he was disappointed with Tuesday's results and took his share of responsibility as party leader.

But he looked forward rather than back. "The message yesterday was clear: The American people want their leaders in Washington to set aside partisan differences, conduct ourselves in an ethical manner and work together to address the challenges facing our nation."

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