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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (13043)	11/5/1998 11:42:00 AM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 67261

G.O.P. in Scramble Over Blame for Poor Showing at the Polls nytimes.com Stunned by the Democratic resurgence in the midterm elections, Congressional Republicans tore into one another Wednesday over who was to blame for their failure to make the traditional opposition party gains in an off-year election. The soul-searching and recriminations -- and a possibility of Congressional leadership challenges -- came as election results showed that Republicans had been unable to increase their 55-to-45-vote margin in the Senate and that Democrats had picked up five seats in the House. The Democratic surge was the first time since 1934 that the President's party had gained seats in a midterm election and it whittled the Republican lead in the House down to 12 votes and the majority to 6. The Democratic victories were even more remarkable in a year marked by the months long scandal over President Clinton's affair with Monica S. Lewinsky. And another story you might enjoy. Without a New Tune to Whistle, G.O.P. Kept Humming 'Scandal' nytimes.com Politicians in both parties said the unexpected Democratic successes on Tuesday stemmed from a fundamental misreading of the electorate by Republicans: In the face of nine months of polls showing that voters were not particularly exercised by the White House scandal, Republicans were utterly convinced that it would ultimately play to their advantage. That was not their only blunder. Many Republican party officials said they assumed they would have an edge given the tide of history showing that the president's party almost always loses seats in a midterm election. These Republicans figured, therefore, that they did not need to use their congressional majorities to push legislation that would shape the debate in this political year. Acknowledging the miscalculation, Speaker Newt Gingrich said: "We probably should have almost maniacally focused on cutting taxes, reforming government, working on saving Social Security" and "accepted the fact that that was a better fight for us than drifting into September and October where there really were -- as people kept saying -- there were no national themes." Uh, the Clinton haters around here sour seemed to have a national theme, but never mind. Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican leader, said: "One of the lessons for Republicans out of this is that we need to listen more carefully to the people -- and we need to have a clear understanding and concise message that we do apply across the nation." Listen to the people, Michael. Clinton, the root of all evil, doesn't seem to be good politics. I know, this is the insubstantial NYT spinning things, so unreliable compared to local hero Drudge. But those are direct quotes from Newt and Trent Lott. Want to call them up and see if they disavow all knowledge? You guys are in denial, Michael. Cheers, Dan.