Gallup has just released an extensive analysis of its post-election polling data, and the polling outfit reaches a rather straightforward conclusion: Voters chose Dems because, well, they want Dems to run the country. From Gallup:

Data from the weekend USA Today/Gallup poll ratified the basic results of the election: Americans want Democrats to be in control.

Asked who they want to have more influence over the direction the nation takes in the next year, Americans by a two to one margin said the Democrats in Congress rather than Bush.

Gallup finds that 61% want Dems to have more influence over the country's direction, while 31% want President Bush to have more influence. In other interesting numbers, Gallup finds that the approval rating of the Democratic Party is 57%, as against 35% for the GOP. It also finds that while 48% of voters think the nation will be better off with Dems controlling Congress, only 16% think it'll be worse off. Gallup's full analysis here.