Gephardt 'to step down' as Democrat backlash begins

Fumbling for excuses and straining at patches of silver lining in an otherwise dismal panoply of failure in the American mid-term elections, leaders of the Democratic Party faced the first stirrings of rebellion in their own ranks yesterday as their Republican foes basked in their political triumph.

The disappointing results, which saw Democrats losing control of the Senate and taking a diminished number of seatsin the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, was a stinging rebuke for the party's leadership. Only gains in governorships in the East and Midwest offered some solace.

While the Republican majorities on both sides of Congress will remain extremely thin, ensuring Democrats will still have leverage to be an effective opposition, the depth of the electoral debacle was unmistakable. History dictates that the party in control of the White House always suffers punishment in mid-terms. But history was upended on Tuesday.

Nowhere was the fire of recrimination fiercer than in the offices of Dick Gephardt, the minority leader in the House, and of Tom Daschle, who loses his position as Senate majority leader. Both men surely emerged with their hopes for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 tarnished.

Mr Gephardt, 61, intends to announce today that he will not seek a new term as Democratic leader in the House, senior aides said. It was also reported by a number of television networks that the veteran intended to go. The expected announcement would clear the way for a succession struggle among Democrats.

The representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic whip, and Martin Frost of Texas, head of the Democratic Caucus, were considered contenders for their party's top spot, the networks reported. Both have already indicated they may run.

Earlier in the day, the representative Harold Ford from Tennessee asserted that it was time for Mr Gephardt to relinquish his leadership role. "It's obvious we need some fresh faces and, in some cases, fresh ideas," Mr Ford said on national radio. Of Mr Gephardt, he said rank-and-file Democrats were asking "pretty tough questions about his leadership".

More than ever, the Democrats are confronted by an absence of convincing authority. The troubling question is: in the void left by the departure from power of the former president Bill Clinton and the 2000 defeat of Al Gore, who will be able to challenge Mr Bush two years from now? Rank-and-file Democrats are expected to meet next Thursday to pick the party's leaders for the Congress that convenes in January.

For his part, Mr Daschle, from South Dakota, acknowledged his disappointment. "This was one tough night," he said of an evening when the extent of the Republican gains was becoming apparent.

Analysts noted that, between them, Mr Gephardt and Mr Daschle had failed to turn the patchwork of races across the country into a national election on the troubled economy and worries about war with Iraq.

Both men tried to suggest that Mr Bush had kept the focus off normal bread-and-butter issues by emphasising his war on terrorism and his plans to oust Saddam Hussein. "The President made that his drumbeat and it resonated," Mr Daschle conceded, also noting that a huge discrepancy in the amount raised by fund-raising had given Republicans an important edge in many critical contests.

"This was a unique election," Mr Gephardt said. "You had the backdrop of 9/11, a lot of patriotism, legitimate patriotism, and concern about national security and safety. And the President's popularity is very high, and that undoubtedly was a factor in some of these elections as well."

One result stung more than any other: the landslide for Jeb Bush, the President's brother, who become the first Republican to win a second term as Governor of Florida. The defeat of the Democrat Bill McBride was a deep wound for the chairman of the Democratic Party, Terry McAuliffe, who had made Florida the number one priority.

Democrats won gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois, states that will be crucial in the 2004 presidential derby. Even so, the hill that the Democrats must climb to regain the White House looked much steeper last night.