It isn't unusual for upper-echelon personnel in presidential and gubernatorial administrations to start changing during the final years that an administration is in office.

Top-level people often opt to move on to lucrative new opportunities in business, in the field of education or with various interest groups, knowing they are destined to give way to hand-picked replacements of the succeeding administration when it takes over power.

But despite Democrats' big election success on Tuesday, most Americans probably didn't anticipate the quick fallout triggered by Republicans' poor showing and the verdict the election is perceived to have delivered regarding the Iraq war — that President George W. Bush's determination to continue the current course isn't good enough.

Wednesday's announcement of the departure of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, less than 24 hours after the General Election polls closed, was testimony to Bush's recognition that if he intends to have any measure of success with the new Congress, he will have to be more flexible in his future decision making.

Over in Congress, Wednesday's announcement by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that he does not intend to run for minority leader when Democrats take control of that chamber in January, was a further form of acknowledgment that life for the GOP isn't going to be a cakewalk.

It is to hoped that the leadership that emerges from both parties will emphasize a bipartisanship that will enable the Congress — both houses — to shed the do-nothing image that dominated the legislature over the past two years.

On the domestic front, many serious issues remain unresolved — Social Security is only one of them — amid the serious considerations that must be given to the conduct of the Iraq mission, how to address nuclear capabilities of America's enemies, and the fight against terrorism.

Bush's nomination of former Central Intelligence Agency director Robert Gates to replace Rumsfeld probably is being viewed as puzzling by many inside and outside the Beltway. Many would have anticipated that Bush would have chosen to bring back someone with past Defense Department leadership experience, or promote one of those currently near the top at the department.

However, with even the Army Times, on Nov. 4, stating in an editorial that "Donald Rumsfeld must go," Bush recognized the positive potential of bringing a person from outside the department to work with Congress on the issues relating to the war.

Gates provides the advantage of having worked, during a 26-year career as an intelligence professional, including almost nine years on the National Security Council, with four presidents of both major parties.

That provides Bush an avenue for extending a hand to the Democratic opposition as a means for making war adjustments in response to the voters' message delivered by Tuesday's election.

Bush's disclosure that he met with Gates in Crawford, Texas, over the weekend makes it clear that the president finally had grasped the realization that the nation's discomfort over the lack of major progress in Iraq was not something to be discounted any longer. Bush said he had planned to nominate Gates as defense secretary regardless of what happened Tuesday.

Bush said Gates will bring "a fresh perspective" to the position and understands the global nature of the terrorism war.

Tuesday's results also could hasten further "fresh perspectives" quickly if some other top administration officials follow Rumsfeld out the door.

The fact that the exodus has begun really isn't unusual. In fact, there will be departures as Gov. Ed Rendell's second term winds down in two or three years.

What is eye-opening is the speed at which change has been thrust in motion.

Bush is in a damage-control mode that he hopes will enable him to achieve some modest successes during the final two years of his presidency — but don't look for much in the way of major successes for which he will be able to grasp the bulk of credit, now that the Democrats have ended the GOP's total hold on the executive and legislative branches.