MEET THE PANEL
Name: Edward Wilson
Lives: Hamden, Connecticut
Works: Aerospace manager
In 10 words or less:
"Family man, interested in history, loves to travel"
I'm not surprised Rumsfeld is leaving - I thought this would happen sometime after the election - but I'm surprised at the timing.
It seems to put out a message that the Republicans now have to make wrenching changes to try and recoup their standing.
I do believe that the appointment of Robert Gates as his successor is a significant change which may produce some fresh ideas.
Short term, it looks like a victory for the Democrats, but the important thing is that it may generate a long-term solution for all of us.
As far as the elections go, Connecticut woke up on Wednesday with a hangover from a brutal campaign.
People are disgusted here with the attack ads we've been subjected to on TV over the past few months. It's gone too far and actually backfired on some candidates, especially Ned Lamont.
Joe Lieberman's victory was deserved, but Lamont's one-dimensional approach never offered the electorate anything positive or useful.
All we knew about Lamont when he won the Democratic primary - that he's against the war, while Lieberman supported it - is about all we knew when we went to the polls on Tuesday.
So while Connecticut didn't contribute to any Democratic march on the Senate, we gave the Democratic leadership at least one significant gain in the House.
The collective anger of voters over the Iraq war was very visible in this election and will certainly be expressed now in a Democrat-dominated House.
Voter participation in Connecticut was high, at about 65% of registered voters, as people recognised that this election was important to bring about change.
The next two years leading up to the presidential election should have a decidedly different flavour.
The Democrats have pretty much got what they've asked for - we Independents will now be looking to see less partisan politics and more of a focus on solving all the problems facing us - like Iraq, energy dependency, healthcare and education issues.
We want to avoid any wasteful Democratic-inspired witch-hunts, and get on with fixing all the messes in this country.