More seats would have been lost if Rummy resigned before the election since Dems would have jumped on it as a sign of Bush faltering in the war.
The so-called corruption of the Repubs was the main reason given at polls for the loss. The media push at the end regarding Foley, Haggard, Abramoff, etc. made dumb voters believe that Repub party is full of gays and louts.
The interesting thing, and not ever mentioned, is that it was a Republican run justice department taking out the corrupt Republican congressmen and lobbyist.
Something Democratic administrations tend not to do to their own party members.
The public may have perceived a Rummy resignation as a positive thing....that Bush and the Republicans were beginning to get the message the voters were trying to send...we need something other than the status quo there.
In turn, they may not have voted against us in such great numbers had he resigned.
However, it is possible they also would have seen it as weakness. It was a gamble, and no doubt they waited until after the election for this reason.