Posted By: Brad Martin

By SHARON COHEN, AP National WriterWed Nov 8, 7:22 PM ET

The winds of change swept from the ballot box into the Pentagon on Wednesday and Americans greeted the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with delight, sadness — and a sense it was long overdue.
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At Tazza Caffe in downtown Providence, R.I., shouts erupted when news of Rumsfeld's departure crossed the television screen as patrons followed the close U.S. Senate race in Virginia.

"Getting rid of Rumsfeld shows you how much momentum the Democrats have," said Darren MacDonald, one of Tazza's managers. "You wonder if the Republicans feel getting Rumsfeld out of there might make things easier for them."

Rumsfeld resigned hours after Democrats seized control of the House and came close to capturing the Senate as well, riding a powerful wave of voter discontent over nearly four years of a war in Iraq with no end in sight.

As an architect of the war, Rumsfeld had become a target of congressional Democrats and more recently some Republicans, with increasing calls for his resignation.

President Bush announced the departure at a news conference and said there would have been a change at the Pentagon regardless of the election results. He also acknowledged that GOP losses reflected voters' "displeasure with the lack of progress" in Iraq. Surveys at polling places showed about six in 10 voters disapproved of the war.

Lucia Cruz, a 61-year-old bank employee in Miami, said Rumsfeld should have quit months ago and that might have spared the GOP on Tuesday.

"The election was a message to the president to let him know that people were not happy," she said. "If Rumsfeld had resigned before the election, maybe the Republicans wouldn't have lost so many seats in Congress."

Michael Corso, a 36-year-old lawyer from Providence, dismissed the departure as "a day late and a dollar short."

But Erik Smith, a 37-year-old information technology manager from Coraopolis, Pa., said he was sorry to see Rumsfeld leave.

"I felt he did the best job he could with what he was given," he said. "You get familiar with someone and you think they're doing a decent job, then it turns around."

In Washington, many Republicans praised Rumsfeld's service, while some Democrats expressed optimism that a new Pentagon chief — former CIA director Robert Gates has been tapped for the post — could offer fresh ideas in dealing with Iraq.

Some voters had the same thing in mind.

"Maybe new blood will do something good that way as long as we focus on getting out," said Shane Mahoney, a 33-year-old Denver commercial real estate broker. "We should not have gone there in the first place."

But others were skeptical that a new Defense secretary would lead to a shift in Iraq war policy.

Erin McCabe, a 32-year-old real estate appraiser from Boston, said she thinks if Bush had actually been responsive to voters, he would have made the change sooner.

"The only problem is I don't see anything is really going to change in Iraq because of it," she said.

Silvia Lomas, a stay-at-home mother in Fresno, Calif., said she was happy to see Rumsfeld go.

"I voted straight Democratic yesterday because of Iraq," she said, "so I'm glad someone is finally taking some heat."

Gerald Butler, a 49-year-old courier in Boston, says he thinks Tuesday's election results and Rumsfeld's exit will clearly bring change — but it won't happen overnight.

"We need to give it time," he said, "because if we keep patting ourselves on the back, nothing will get done."

But Butler said he senses Bush has gotten the message.

"He has to listen now," he said. "He has to."

___

Associated Press writers Adam Gorlick in Providence, R.I., Daniel Lovering in Pittsburgh, Don Mitchell in Denver, Justin M. Norton in San Francisco, Olivia Munoz in Fresno, Calif., Melissa Trujillo in Boston and Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami contributed to this report.

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