“I'm not surprised. It was inevitable. I just think it happened now because the Republicans took a well-deserved beating.”

— Chris Ordal, filmmaker, Lawrence

“I think a clean slate is a good slate as far as a plan of action for the war is concerned.”

— Christy Koerth, hairdresser/makeup artist, Denver

“I think it's about time. Clearly his policies haven't worked. The situation in Iraq is a disaster, and there is no way the president could function in the last two years of his term with Rumsfeld as secretary of defense.”

— John Taber, processing specialist, Lawrence

“He certainly hasn't been a popular secretary of defense, but I really don't know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing. There is always somebody worse.”

— Nancy Bodenhammer, engineering scheduler, Burlington