Gravel declared, "anyone who voted for the war on October 11th [20002] based upon what President Bush presented to them is not qualified to hold the office of the president of the United States." Gravel continued, "The Senate leadership could have refused to even take up the resolution and many Senators who opposed it could have mounted a filibuster, but the fear of opposing a popular warrior president on the eve of the mid-term election prevailed. Political calculations trumped morality and the Middle East was set ablaze. The Democrats lost that election anyway, but more so the American people. It was politics as usual."