That means two years of seeing a Republican president face off with a Democratic Congress, each branch of government seeking to further its respective party’s agenda. For a country well accustomed to partisan politics, the situation is far from uncommon.

By handing the House and the Senate to Democratic majorities, the voters have shown a desire for change in a government that has largely followed conservative Republican agendas.

The question that now remains is whether or not we will really see any change.

President Bush and Democratic leaders like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have affirmed to the public all week that they will all work toward bipartisan agreements on important issues.

Those issues that are foremost in many voters’ and politicians’ minds are the war in Iraq, education, Social Security, immigration and national security. In the past, these issues have proved largely divisive between the two major parties, but this time voters may actually see some change.

Democrats and Republicans largely agree that immediately pulling out of Iraq is not the best course of action for the United States. Both seem to favor a gradual pulling out as the country’s social and political climate becomes calmer, though the two sides do diagree in how to best go about the process.

President Bush’s proposals to resolve immigration issues may gain new life, since they were initially accepted more warmly by Democrats.

Bush’s initiative to improve education, No Child Left Behind, was pushed through Congress as a bipartisan measure. It will be up for renewal next year, and a Democratic majority may help it pass again.

“Election is over,” said Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who is poised to become the Senate majority leader. “The only way to move forward is with bipartisanship and openness.”

Voters in 28 Congressional districts and six states voted to replace Republican candidates with Democratic ones, effectively shifting the balance of power in Congress. Republicans and Democrats will each hold 49 seats in the Senate, with the two Independents, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, expected to generally vote with the Democrats.

In the House of Representatives, which has 435 seats, Democrats gained 28 seats for a total of 229 to the Republicans’ 196.

Currently, the Republican Party holds 232 seats in the House and 55 in the Senate.

In a press conference the day after elections, President Bush aptly described the overall political outcome of the elections a “thumping.”

The new representatives and senators will take office at the beginning of next year, until which time the Republicans will still have the majority vote.

Bush showed his desire for bipartisanship and solidarity by promptly inviting Democratic leaders to the White House to discuss the implications of the shift in power. Sen. Reid and Sen. Richard Durban (D-Ill.) met with Bush on Nov. 10.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is expected to become the next Speaker of the House, met with Bush on Nov. 9.

“I would call it a very constructive and very friendly conversation,” Bush said. “We won’t agree on every issue, but we do agree that we love America equally, and that we’ll do our very best to address big problems.”