The Decider makes his decision

Current President Bush finally kicked SecDef Rumsfeld to the curb. As this is coming the day after a midterm beatdown by the Democrats, the timing of this is fairly clear. What I’d like to know is the real reason behind the move.

Did Bush do this to show the incoming Democratic leadership that he was willing to work with them? Did he just do it now instead of waiting for the Dems to spend their first year demanding that Rumsfeld go, so that it didn’t look like he was being forced? Is he taking steps to prepare for the upcoming Congressional investigation into Iraq? Or did the election results finally convince Bush that the American people are not too happy with the way the war in Iraq has been handled?