US: Secure in the knowledge that Republicans now control both houses of Congress, US President George Bush yesterday outlined his legislative priority for the days ahead, starting with the creation of a massive new Department of Homeland Security.
At his first formal press conference since July, Mr Bush said making his tax cuts permanent would also be central to his programme. He dodged questions from the White House press corps about whether he felt the election gave him a personal validation, after the chaotic outcome of the 2000 presidential election. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," he said.
In Tuesday's elections, the Republicans won back the Senate and increased their House of Representatives majority, helped by a whirlwind cross-country campaign by Mr Bush in the final days. The creation of a Department of Homeland Security was stalled by the Democratic-controlled Senate because of claims of inadequate protection for the tens of thousands of civil servants who would be employed. "Between now and Christmas I want it done, it is a priority," Mr Bush said.
The president joked easily with reporters but betrayed personal tension by occasionally blowing out his cheeks after answering a question. Responding to widespread speculation that Vice-President Dick Cheney would not be his running mate in 2004, for health reasons, Mr Bush said, "Should I decide to run, Dick Cheney will be my running mate."
Among Democrats there was turmoil after Tuesday's election, which dashed their earlier hopes of ending up in control of both houses of Congress. House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt announced yesterday that he was stepping down after eight years. "These are new times and they call for new ideas and bold action," he said. He hinted at a run for the presidency in 2004, stating it was "time for me personally to take a different direction ... and take on this president and the Republican Party from a different vantage point".
Two veteran Democrats will compete to succeed him in a vote next Thursday: liberal Nancy Pelosi of California and centrist Martin Frost of Texas.
"To win back the House in 2004, we need a unified party that will draw clear distinctions between our vision of the future and that espoused by the Republicans," said Ms Pelosi, number two to Mr Gephardt. Congressman Frost took a different approach. "Now our party must make a choice, must decide whether we want to speak to the broad centre of the country, or whether we want to speak to only a narrow spectrum of the country," he told reporters.
Some Democrats were "very uneasy about the party moving sharply to the left" under Ms Pelosi, he added. Democrats could only avoid being a "permanent minority party" by winning the moderate and conservative swing districts in the heart of the country.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the former Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott are assured of election as their party's leaders on Capitol Hill. No challenger has yet emerged to former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle for the post of Senate Minority leader. The election left Democrats in worst shape since landslide defeats in 1984 and 1994.
"I think we're going to go straight from defeat to recriminations," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. Former vice-president Al Gore said, "Democrats should not mistake the magnitude of this loss. There has to be a major regrouping." It was time for Democrats to become "the loyal opposition in fact and not just in name".
Some Democrats argued that the mid-term elections had left America evenly divided. Senator Edward Kennedy said that but for 70,000 votes the Senate would have stayed in Democratic hands.
Republicans will have a one-vote majority in the 100-member Senate, with one seat outstanding. In the House, they now have a 227-203 majority, with one independent and four seats undecided.