Republican Revolution

WASHINGTON -- The final Republican tumble to President Clinton on the fiscal 1996 budget, ending seven months of bickering marked by two government shutdowns, is an exclamation point to a remarkable political turnaround since the GOP takeover of Congress only 18 months ago.The Republican concessions on money for education, environmental cleanup, crime-fighting and job training underscore Mr. Clinton's upper hand in the drawn-out budgetary process, once...

There is a natural division of labor in politics: The Republicans fuss about the sanctity of marriage and getting God back in the schools and the Democrats about health care and $8 billion that vanished in Iraq a few years ago, and so far the Republicans are doing a better job. God is in the schools, the same as He is in Nebraska or even in Dallas, and marriage looks to be doing OK, since the White House is not in charge of it. Meanwhile, the Pentagon and...

DOWN IN THE DUMPS after 1994's historic election in which Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, and staring at polls that predicted more Republican victories at the state level in this week's off-year voting, Democrats got something to smile about Tuesday. They held onto the governorship in Kentucky, where Lt. Gov. Paul Patton's pro-Medicare, pro-affirmative action, pro-choice campaign, anti-Newt Gingrich campaign paid off. He "nationalized" the election the way Speaker Gingrich did in 1994.

CHICAGO -- When Republicans shocked the country by winning a majority in both houses of Congress in 1994, you could almost hear the tune that British troops reputedly played after their surrender at Yorktown: "The World Turned Upside Down." The GOP had a mandate for Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," which called for a balanced budget, term limits and tax cuts. The Republicans talked about abolishing Cabinet departments. They proposed constitutional amendments. The takeover was dubbed the "Republican revolution," because dramatic change was plainly on the way. This year, they have upended expectations once again, giving them an even stronger position in Washington than eight years ago. They recaptured the Senate, they increased their majority in the House in defiance of historical odds -- and this time, they have an incumbent president whose claim to govern is now firmer than when he came into office as the runner-up in the 2000 popular vote.

COUNT on it, there will be many on the far right who will attribute the Republican decline in Tuesday's national election to lack of zeal and belief in the old-time religion. But that will be a hard point to make.The election, as it turned out, was not a referendum on President Clinton or Monica Lewinsky. It was a referendum on that blandest of human attributes, moderation. The public would like more of it, less of name-calling, fewer hare-brained ideas like shutting down the government for the fun of it.The root of the Republican decline since the party's immense victory in 1994 has been a terrible misreading of the public mind.

WASHINGTON -- The people have spoken. But what have they said? If you think the spin season is over, think again. The mandate-mongering moment is upon us. Here is the mandate I monger:Yes, it was a ''status-quo'' election. Bill Clinton was (and is) president. Republicans held (and hold) the Congress. The Republicans held (and hold) the governorships. State legislative chambers remain competitive.President Clinton ran a professional and astute campaign. By co-opting the values issues early and often, he ate Bob Dole's lunch.

SOMEBODY on the Brinkley show Sunday asked Gov. Christine Whitman of New Jersey about the Republican "revolution" and she looked uneasy with the word, but then went ahead and accepted it, hedging that, well, it was "in some sense" a "revolution."It was one of the few reassuring public moments we've had from a Republican since the media and Washington succumbed to Noot madness.No Republican worth the name can hear the word "revolution" without at least an interior shudder of revulsion. This, I fancied, accounted for that ever so brief pause by the elegant Mrs. Whitman when she was asked to acknowledge that she was in league with Robespierre.

CHICAGO -- When Republicans shocked the country by winning a majority in both houses of Congress in 1994, you could almost hear the tune that British troops reputedly played after their surrender at Yorktown: "The World Turned Upside Down." The GOP had a mandate for Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," which called for a balanced budget, term limits and tax cuts. The Republicans talked about abolishing Cabinet departments. They proposed constitutional amendments. The takeover was dubbed the "Republican revolution," because dramatic change was plainly on the way. This year, they have upended expectations once again, giving them an even stronger position in Washington than eight years ago. They recaptured the Senate, they increased their majority in the House in defiance of historical odds -- and this time, they have an incumbent president whose claim to govern is now firmer than when he came into office as the runner-up in the 2000 popular vote.

There is a natural division of labor in politics: The Republicans fuss about the sanctity of marriage and getting God back in the schools and the Democrats about health care and $8 billion that vanished in Iraq a few years ago, and so far the Republicans are doing a better job. God is in the schools, the same as He is in Nebraska or even in Dallas, and marriage looks to be doing OK, since the White House is not in charge of it. Meanwhile, the Pentagon and...

WASHINGTON -- Plans for a gala celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Republican takeover of Congress were squelched recently because no one knew what to do about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.Gingrich virtually personifies the Republican revolution, as it was called. But he was deposed by his own troops last year and was later revealed to be having an affair that has embroiled him in a messy divorce."I can't imagine having an anniversary celebration without Newt. But if he came, he'd be the story, and no one would want to be in a picture with him," said Rep. Mark E. Souder, an Indiana Republican, reflecting the conflict among his colleagues.

WASHINGTON -- Plans for a gala celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Republican takeover of Congress were squelched recently because no one knew what to do about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.Gingrich virtually personifies the Republican revolution, as it was called. But he was deposed by his own troops last year and was later revealed to be having an affair that has embroiled him in a messy divorce."I can't imagine having an anniversary celebration without Newt. But if he came, he'd be the story, and no one would want to be in a picture with him," said Rep. Mark E. Souder, an Indiana Republican, reflecting the conflict among his colleagues.

COUNT on it, there will be many on the far right who will attribute the Republican decline in Tuesday's national election to lack of zeal and belief in the old-time religion. But that will be a hard point to make.The election, as it turned out, was not a referendum on President Clinton or Monica Lewinsky. It was a referendum on that blandest of human attributes, moderation. The public would like more of it, less of name-calling, fewer hare-brained ideas like shutting down the government for the fun of it.The root of the Republican decline since the party's immense victory in 1994 has been a terrible misreading of the public mind.

WASHINGTON -- The people have spoken. But what have they said? If you think the spin season is over, think again. The mandate-mongering moment is upon us. Here is the mandate I monger:Yes, it was a ''status-quo'' election. Bill Clinton was (and is) president. Republicans held (and hold) the Congress. The Republicans held (and hold) the governorships. State legislative chambers remain competitive.President Clinton ran a professional and astute campaign. By co-opting the values issues early and often, he ate Bob Dole's lunch.

WASHINGTON -- The final Republican tumble to President Clinton on the fiscal 1996 budget, ending seven months of bickering marked by two government shutdowns, is an exclamation point to a remarkable political turnaround since the GOP takeover of Congress only 18 months ago.The Republican concessions on money for education, environmental cleanup, crime-fighting and job training underscore Mr. Clinton's upper hand in the drawn-out budgetary process, once...

ONCE A CONGRESS eager to set the national agenda, it is now a Congress that would settle for some national attention.A little over a year ago, Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican revolutionists stormed into Washington having taken control of Congress for the first time in four decades. They were going to cut government down the size, balance the budget, roll back the welfare state, reduce taxes, reform Medicare and Medicare and, on the side, transform the world.Back on Capitol Hill this week after a February break that witnessed upheaval in the presidential primaries, some GOP legislators feel they are on another planet.

WASHINGTON -- Tucked away in the 1996 federal transportation spending bill is a gift for the good citizens of Oregon: $15 million to reduce the debt of the Port of Portland shipyard.No such budget request came from the Clinton administration or the House of Representatives. The item was added by Republican Sen. Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon, chairman of the Appropriations Committee and its transportation subcommittee.Mr. Hatfield argued that debt relief was needed to offset the loss of business when Alaskan oil was shipped directly abroad, bypassing Portland.

WASHINGTON -- Tucked away in the 1996 federal transportation spending bill is a gift for the good citizens of Oregon: $15 million to reduce the debt of the Port of Portland shipyard.No such budget request came from the Clinton administration or the House of Representatives. The item was added by Republican Sen. Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon, chairman of the Appropriations Committee and its transportation subcommittee.Mr. Hatfield argued that debt relief was needed to offset the loss of business when Alaskan oil was shipped directly abroad, bypassing Portland.

ONCE A CONGRESS eager to set the national agenda, it is now a Congress that would settle for some national attention.A little over a year ago, Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican revolutionists stormed into Washington having taken control of Congress for the first time in four decades. They were going to cut government down the size, balance the budget, roll back the welfare state, reduce taxes, reform Medicare and Medicare and, on the side, transform the world.Back on Capitol Hill this week after a February break that witnessed upheaval in the presidential primaries, some GOP legislators feel they are on another planet.

DOWN IN THE DUMPS after 1994's historic election in which Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, and staring at polls that predicted more Republican victories at the state level in this week's off-year voting, Democrats got something to smile about Tuesday. They held onto the governorship in Kentucky, where Lt. Gov. Paul Patton's pro-Medicare, pro-affirmative action, pro-choice campaign, anti-Newt Gingrich campaign paid off. He "nationalized" the election the way Speaker Gingrich did in 1994.

SOMEBODY on the Brinkley show Sunday asked Gov. Christine Whitman of New Jersey about the Republican "revolution" and she looked uneasy with the word, but then went ahead and accepted it, hedging that, well, it was "in some sense" a "revolution."It was one of the few reassuring public moments we've had from a Republican since the media and Washington succumbed to Noot madness.No Republican worth the name can hear the word "revolution" without at least an interior shudder of revulsion. This, I fancied, accounted for that ever so brief pause by the elegant Mrs. Whitman when she was asked to acknowledge that she was in league with Robespierre.