WASHINGTON — Like many of their counterparts from other parts of the country, the six Republican lawmakers who represent South Carolina accepted blame for the party’s election rout, but they weren’t giving Democrats much credit.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who joined the House in 1995 and rose to the Senate in 2003, said Republicans’ wounds were self-inflicted.

“We lost. The Democrats didn’t win,” Graham said. “Instead of reforming government and trying to control government, we have expanded spending beyond belief for Republicans. We abandoned our policies and our principles.”

Other South Carolina Republicans also cited the scandals surrounding lawmakers tied to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the recent resignation of Rep. Mark Foley over his contacts with male pages.

In the House, the voters’ verdict was clear. U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis of Travelers Rest tried to inject a bit of gallows humor.

“It’s clear that we Republicans have received some loving correction from the American people, and we need to learn our lessons wells,” Inglis said. “The reality is we’ve spent money like drunken sailors. We’ve got to understand that if we’re going to keep Democrats from taxing, we’ve got to keep ourselves from spending.”

While there was broad agreement that GOP lawmakers had abandoned fiscal responsibility, South Carolina’s contingent was split over the resignation Wednesday of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Inglis said the party might have fared better in Tuesday’s elections had Rumsfeld quit earlier.

Graham, who has clashed with Rumsfeld on a range of war issues from interrogation techniques to military manpower in Iraq, said his resignation was necessary.

“The war is not going well,” Graham said. “I welcome a new secretary of defense. I believe that a new face and a new voice and a new direction in the Pentagon will help us win this war.”

Calling for the dispatch of an additional 50,000 to 1000,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, Graham said he “will be creating a road map for us to reconnect with voters” on Iraq and other issues.

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of Springdale, chairman of the House’s Victory in Iraq Caucus, was less happy.

“I’m disappointed,” Wilson said. “I greatly admired Secretary Rumsfeld. He has really led the technological revolution that has made the American fighting person look like a figure out of ‘Star Wars.’”

Some political analysts cast the election results as a referendum on the Iraq war. Wilson, though, said the vote increases the importance of winning the conflict.

“There is absolutely no question to me that victory in Iraq is crucial for Americans’ freedoms to stay intact,” he said.

Sen. Jim DeMint, who joined the House in 1999 and ascended to the Senate in 2005, said Americans delivered a clear message in the elections.

“Things went south, as they say,” he said. “It’s time for change within the Republican Party. You don’t argue with voters, and they’ve sent a clear signal that they want to see some change.”

The Republicans’ majority in Congress, DeMint said, rested on what he called a “three-legged stool”: strong defense and security, a strong economy, and strong values.

“As we look at what hurt us, on defense and security a lot of Americans didn’t believe they’d been told the truth about Iraq,” DeMint said. “That affected the third leg of values.”