Pelosi Says Democrats Are Ready to Lead .... "The one good place he could start... is to change the civilian leadership at the Pentagon,"

WASHINGTON - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, set to become the first female speaker in history, said Wednesday she would be "the speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Democrats."

Striking a tone of conciliation, she offered assurances that any effort to impeach President Bush "is off the table." But said American voters "spoke for change and they spoke for a new direction for all Americans."

Speaking at a news conference in the Capitol the morning after Democrats upended control of the House, she said voters specifically demanded a change in course on the war in Iraq and urged Bush "to listen to the voice of the people."

"The one good place he could start... is to change the civilian leadership at the Pentagon," she said, a reference to growing bipartisan demands that Bush replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.......