Rumsfeld stays out sight after Republican defeat

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stayed out of sight after a massive Republican defeat in legislative elections seen as a vote for a change of course in Iraq. Eric Ruff, the Pentagon press secretary, said he did not know whether President George W. Bush had spoken to Rumsfeld in the wake of Tuesday's elections returns to discuss his future.

"We're hard at work," Ruff told reporters. "We're still at war." Democratic leaders, celebrating their recapture of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate for the first time in 12 years, called for a new direction in Iraq. Exit polls showed that voter disenchantment with Iraq was a key factor in the election results, and calls for Rumsfeld's resignation mounted during the campaign. Ruff, who said he...