Elections can make a big difference.
"In five minutes, (former Defense Secretary) Donald Rumsfeld resigned, and in 10 minutes we got a call on global warming, so change is in the air," [Democratic Senator Barbara] Boxer said. Among the Senate's severest critics of Bush, Boxer said the administration had already extended an olive branch, with a top aide from the President's Council on Environmental Quality contacting her staff indicating a willingness to work together.