2002 Winners & Losers
A Last Look Back at the Midterm Election Year
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/20...
It's been slightly more than one month since 2002's historic midterm elections, but doesn't it seem like much, much longer?
In that short amount of time, the Democrats temporarily stopped the bleeding by retaining Mary Landrieu's Senate seat in Louisiana, Al Gore fired the the starting pistol for the 2004 horse race by pulling up and bowing out, and Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott went from euphoric over his imminent return to the majority leader's post to embattled over his controversial remarks at the 100th birthday party of Sen. Strom Thurmond.
However, 2002 is not over yet, and, before all attention permanently turns to a presidential election that it still 683 days away, let's take one final opportunity to recap some of the highs and lows of this campaign year.
The Winners... ...and the Losers
If there's an overall "winner," it's the GOP. Normally, the president's party loses seats in a midterm election. The fact that Republicans picked up House seats in addition to regaining control of the Senate made the 2002 election one for the record books. So it's really not difficult to recognize the big winner as...
1. President Bush: It's almost a cliche now to say he "put his political capital" on the line, but that's what he did. Bush made 17 stops in 15 states in the week before Election Day, and his fervent campaigning likely made the difference in a number of tight races that broke for the GOP. He also raised $140 million for Republican campaigns, and he enters the second half of his first term in a stronger position than any president in decades.
Also See:
• Bush Gamble Pays Off for the GOP
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
2. Karl Rove: At this point, it's probably pointless to separate Bush and Rove from each other, at least as far as pure politickin' is concerned. Rove's growing legend as a political guru got another bump on Nov. 5, but his days of playing the game of low expectations may finally be done.
Also See:
• David S. Broder: Political Steamroller
(The Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2002)
3. Democratic Liberals: After a decade of being marginalized by their party's move toward the center, the Democratic core struck back loud and proud after the Election Day debacle. They blamed party losses on leaders who got too chummy with Bush while ignoring their base. With one of their own, Nancy Pelosi, as the new House leader, look for a stronger voice from the left in the new Congress – and in the '04 race.
Also See:
• Democrats Ignore Base, Activists Say
(The Washington Post, Nov. 14, 2002)
4. Ralph Reed: As Georgia's GOP chairman, Reed was the architect of the state's stunning Republican sweep. Defeating Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes and Sen. Max Cleland wasn't pretty, but politics rarely is. The GOP also won 8 of 13 House seats. Next up, Zell Miller in '04, but will Reed run himself?
Also See:
• Ga. Effort Shows GOP Strengths
(The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2002)
5. Jeb Bush: This is the way the year's most-watched race ends? Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Bill McBride got in the way of a Jeb v. Janet (Reno) match, and Bush went from being the Democrats' top target to being reelected with 56%. "Bush '08" is still possible.
Also See:
• Jeb Bush Wins Reelection Bid
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
6. Bill Frist: The two-term Tennessee senator was a big winner before his name surfaced as a possible majority leader. As head of the Senate campaign committee, Frist helped orchestrate the GOP's surprisingly strong showing. Watch for him on this list next year, too.
Also See:
• Frist Suggested for Leadership Post
(The Washington Post, Dec. 18, 2002)
7. Ed Rendell: The former mayor of Philadelphia defied history by being the first Philly candidate to win a governor's race in almost a century. His popularity and credentials make him an instant player in the Democratic Party's future.
Also See:
• Rendell Wins Democratic Nod in Pa.
(Congressional Quarterly, May 22, 2002)
8. Bob Ehrlich: Not only did the congressman become Maryland's first GOP governor since Spiro Agnew, but he won the office by beating a member of the Kennedy clan in one of the country's most Democratic states. Talk about instant party credibility.
Also See:
• Ehrlich Stuns Townsend for Governor
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
9. Mark Pryor: The incoming senator from Arkansas was the only candidate to knock off a Republican incumbent in this year's Senate races. And he did it by winning back his father's old seat.
Also See:
• Pryor Knocks Off Hutchinson
(Congressional Quarterly, Nov. 6, 2002)
10. The Conservative Media: Has the New York Times editorial board met its match? Bill Clinton, Tom Daschle and Al Gore think so. All three party leaders partially blamed a right-leaning press for this year's Democratic losses. But was the media really a factor in the final vote? No one knows for sure. We just report. You decide.
Also See:
• Debate Over Media Bias Continues
(The Washington Post, Dec. 18, 2002)
Well, there's the Democratic Party, and who else? Of course the Democrats aren't dead, regardless of the sky-is-falling media coverage that followed Election Day. It's only been one month, and talk has already shifted to 2004. Of course, public discussion of Democratic woes was curbed thanks mostly to...
1. Trent Lott: Lott looks to be the year's biggest loser, and he wasn't even up for reelection. Those photos of a smiling Lott on Election Night have been erased by his desperate bid to overcome remarks he made at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. He derailed a smooth return as majority leader and may have endangered the GOP agenda before the party could even act on it. And his attempt to save face on BET didn't help, either.
Also See:
• Lott Apologizes Anew for Remark
(The Washington Post, Dec. 12, 2002)
2. California Voters: Between the both of them, Democrat Gray Davis and Republican Bill Simon garnered just 5,955,820 votes in the governor's race. That's out of 15.3 million registered voters. The race was ugly from the beginning, and the electorate in the nation's largest state was never engaged.
Also See:
• Welcome to the Tar Pits
(The Washington Post, Oct. 9, 2002)
3. Robert Torricelli: Talk about a tough year. Rebuked by his Senate colleagues and abandoned by his constituents, the New Jersey senator barely escaped criminal charges due to questionable fundraising activity. Dropping his reelection bid might have been the highlight of his year.
Also See:
• Switch to Lautenberg Paid Off
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
4. Douglas Forrester: When you're entire Senate campaign is "I'm Not the Other Guy," and The Other Guy drops out of the race, you're not left with much. Forrester's inflated lead collapsed when former senator Frank Lautenberg entered the race, and when Jersey voters remembered they don't elect GOP Senate candidates.
Also See:
• GOP Contender Has an Identity Crisis
(The Washington Post, Oct. 4, 2002)
5. Texas Democrats: After being swept out of office statewide in 2000, Democrats thought they found an answer – a Hispanic gubernatorial candidate and a black Senate candidate. But the "dream team" ticket died a costly death, and the GOP won across the board.
Also See:
• GOP Shuts Out Democrats Statewide
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
6. Terry McAuliffe: The chairman of the DNC put a lot of ground troops and campaign dollars into defeating Jeb Bush in a Democratic grudge match, and he lost. His Election Night spin convinced no one, and his brash commentary angered many in and out of the party.
Also See:
• Media Notes: Democrats Get Trashed
(The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2002)
7. Clinton Alums: McAuliffe isn't the only confidante of Bill Clinton to fall on hard times. About a dozen former staffers started the year seeking office, but only two won on Election Day. Bill Richardson (New Mexico governor) and Rahm Emanuel (Illinois House).
Also See:
• Clinton Ties Put Ex-Aides in Bind
(The Washington Post, April 14, 2002)
8. The Kennedy Mystique: Teddy played a big role in bringing the 2004 Democratic convention to Boston, but on the 2002 campaign trail, there was no magic in Camelot. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's loss in Maryland was one of the worst campaigns of the year.
Also See:
• The Dimming of the Kennedy Aura
(The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2002)
9. John Thune: The South Dakota congressman gave up a relatively safe House seat to run for the Senate at the behest of the Bush administration, but lost the achingly close race by just more than 500 votes. Perhaps the White House will help with a little job placement.
Also See:
• To Johnson-Thune, Add Bush-Daschle
(The Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2002)
10. Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney: Two of the, um, liveliest personalities, in Congress, from neighboring districts in Georgia, never even made it to Election Day. Both lost out in their party primaries. Amazingly, Barr did not blame his loss on Bill Clinton, though the conspiracy-minded McKinney said she smelled a Republican plot.
Also See:
• Post Editorial: Ga. Voters Did It
(The Washington Post, Oct. 27, 2002)
And finally, a special honorable mention to two winners AND losers:
First, there's the Voter News Service, the consortium service that provides media outlets, campaign workers and pundits with exit poll data. VNS had an Election Night collapse, concluding that its analysis could not be trusted. The meltdown was an embarrassment to the networks, which had to call winners the old-fashioned way – by waiting for votes to be counted – but a relief for those fearing a repeat of the 2000 presidential debacle. When the data still could not be trusted, but it was shared anyway.
Also See:
• Voter News Service Meltdown Halts Flow of Exit Poll Data
(The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2002)
And then there's James Traficant, who did not let federal convictions on charges of bribery and corruption – nor did he let expulsion from the House of Representatives – deter his bid for reelection. Even from prison, the always colorful Traficant gave democracy his best shot, running as an independent when he didn't have the Democratic nomination. Alas, he lost, but his sentence was only 8 years. "Traficant in 2010!"
© 2002 The Washington Post Company |
