Harry Reid elected Senate Majority Leader

Reid elected leader of Senate Democratic majority
By Thomas Ferraro
Tue Nov 14, 1:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats elected Sen. Harry Reid as Senate majority leader on Tuesday and renewed their call for change in Iraq as they prepared to take control of Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans.

"From Iraq to the economy, Americans want change, and the Senate majority ... is going to fight for change," Reid of Nevada declared after his colleagues elected him by acclamation for the new 110th Congress set to convene in January.

Democrats campaigned on an agenda that includes raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, reducing the cost of college and expanding health care.

The party favors a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a major issue in last week's elections that saw the American voters give Democrats control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years.

While Democrats cannot force Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq, they intend to beat the drums on Capitol Hill for a new strategy.

"This is not a time for threatening the president with anything. We're going to see how we can work with him to change course in Iraq," said Reid, Senate Democratic minority leader the past two years.

Democrats also elected Dick Durbin of Illinois as assistant Senate majority leader. He has been Senate assistant minority leader since January 2005.

Senate Republicans are to elect their leaders for the new Congress on Wednesday; Democrats and Republicans elect their House of Representatives leaders on Thursday and Friday, respectively.