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WASHINGTON (AP) - As the final votes
were being tallied, Republicans expressed bitter
disappointment Democrats, survivors of a year
of White House scandal, predicted with some
authority that Tuesday’s midterm elections
would slow die push toward impeachment
Gleefully interpreting voters’ intentions,
Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer
declared, “They said ‘No’ to the party that said
j ‘We’re going to investigate the president’”
No matter what message voters intended to
send, their actions left House Speaker Newt
I Gingrich and other GOP leaders facing severe
; second-guessing.
Voters were clear in their distaste both for
I the Monica Lewinsky investigation and Clinton
himself.
Six out of 10 voters said they disapproved of
j Republican handling of the Lewinsky matter- a
| group that supported Democratic House candi
; dates by a better than 2-1 maTgin. More than half
; of all voters said they want the inquiry dropped,
according to exit polls.
At the same time, a majority of voters said
| they believe the Lewinsky issue has hurt
I Clinton Is ability to lead, about the same percent
; age of people who expressed a low opinion of
him as a person.
Victories over Sens. Alfonse D’Amato of
New York and Lauch Faircloth of North
Carolina, two longtime nemesesofPresident
Clinton, lifted the spirits of a Democratic Party
battered by last-minute GOP advertising efforts
to make an issue of the Lewinsky inquiry.
Republicans, meanwhile, struggled to main
tain their House ma jority, a bitter development
for GOP leaders who had predicted big gains.
Democrats defeated two Republican
Southern governors, David Beasley of South
Carolina and Fob James of Alabama, scored an
upset victory in Iowa and won the single biggest
race of the year, the California governor’s race.
All this provided a measure of solace for the
fact that Democrats lost control of the House,
the Senate and America’s statehouses under
Clinton.
Over and over agam, Gingrich claimed a
minimalist victory, saying his leadership team
was die first in 70 years to win the House three
times in a row for Republicans.
“Every chairmanship will be Republican,”
he said, as if that should be enough to satisfy his
rank and file.
It may not be.
Gingrich quickly was challenged by conser
vatives who believe the leadership compro
mised too often in the budget process. His
eleventh-hour gamble to pour millions of dollars
into an anti-Clinton ad campaign didn’t pay off;
it might have helped turn out Democratic voters.
“Republicans tried to win on anti-Clinton
sentiment, while Democrats had an agenda of
issues such as Social Security and education,”
said Randy Tate, director of the Christian
Coalition.
Gingrich, a man whose White House aspira
tions now bang in the balance, was criticized by
fellow Republicans with presidential ambitions.
“I think it’s inevitable now that the leader
ship will be challenged in both chambers of
Congress, and a lot of Republicans across the
country will be cheering those changes,” said
Gary Bauer, a conservative activist who plans to
run for president
the party came across as timid, office
clinging incumbents instead of a party of high
principle and purpose,” said millionaire Steve
Forbes, who will unveil a tax-cutting plan today.
And this from former Vice President Dan
Quayle: “We need leadership that’s going to
rally the Republican Party, that’s going to unify
the Republican Party.”
As for Clinton, his supporters hoped that
Republicans will quickly end the House inquiry
- perhaps with a presidential censure, but no
impeachment
“I think the president has an opportunity
now to move forward and get this behind him,
get focused on other things,” said Bill Carrick, a
Democratic consultant in California.
Not so quick, others say.
Leon Panetta, Clinton’s former chief of staff,
said, “Both sides were engaged in trench warfare
before the election, and my instincts teQ me both
sides may return to the trenches after the elec
tion.” ' ■■■ : ' * •
Republicans disappointed with seat losses
From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defying history,
Democrats battled Republicans to a standstill -
and perhaps gained a few seats -Tuesday in mid
term elections likely to bolster support for
President Clinton on the eve of congressional
impeachment proceedings.
Repubfieai»fceldeoatit>i tff both houses of
Congress, but die trend indicated ^ shrunken
majority in the House and status quo at 55-45 in
the Senate. The setback drew the ire of Nebraska
Republicans, who considered their victories in
the state exemplary.
“It’s a disappointing night, no question about
it. We’ve squandered a real opportunity,”
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said at a victory
party in Lincoln.
Continued Republican control of the Senate
came at a steep price for two incumbents.
Alfonse D’Amato of New York and Lauch
Faircloth ofNorth Carolina - both Clinton critics
- were ousted from office. In Illinois,
Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun lost her
bid for re-election.
Democrats appeared headed for gains of a
few seats in the House, conttary not only to his
torical trends, but also a prediction that House
SpeakerNewt Gingrich made in a conference
call to GOP lawmakers hours before the polls
closed. The rank and file meets later this month
in the Capitol, and Gingrich and other party lead
ers could draw fire.
Chuck Sigerson, chairman of the Nebraska
Republican Party, said he would point to
Nebraska’s success during upcoming meetings
of Republican leaders from around the country.
“I am going to make a point of reminding
them to look at how we’ve won in this state
instead of hiring high-priced consultants to tell
them how to lose.”
Hagel attributed die less-than-stellar show
ing to the party’s failure to define an agenda and
articulate it to voters.
The party’s base is confused as to what the
party stands for, he said., . ^ ....
“I don’t think ye’verione a good job of lead- n
• mg orgoybthmg'/All thoselhingsaddup^a
problem,” he said.
In the House, where GOP leaders scheduled
impeachment proceedings to begin later this
month, Democratic gains made it possible that
the GOP would lose part of their 11-seat majori
ty. In that event, Speaker Newt Gingrich and
other party leaders could find themselves chal
lenged in the GOP caucus.
Democrats claimed the single biggest prize of
the election Tuesday night when Gray Davis was
elected governor of California.
Democrats celebrated other statehouse victories,
ousting a pair of Southern governors and electing a
governor in Iowa for the first time since 1966.
In a dynastic victory with implications for the
2000 presidential race, GOP Gov. George W Bush
won a Texas-sized re-election. His brother Jeb added
the Florida statehouse to the Republican column.
And Republicans held big-state governorships in
Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and New York.
Democrats countered in South Carolina, where
Jim Hodges toppled first-term Gov. David Beasley,
ironically the chairman of the Republican
Governors’ Association. Alabama Republican Gov.
Fob James was defeated as well.
Democrats battled everywhere to keep
Republicans to minimal gains-keeping the Georgia
governorship in their hands, for example, when Roy
Barnes won his race to succeed Zell Miller.
One of the most intriguing gubernatorial races of
the night was in Minnesota, where an independent,
former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, held a narrow
lead over his two major party rivals in the race for
governor.
Governor-elect Mike Johanns joked about Jesse
“The Body” Ventura’s victory in the Minnesota gov
emor’srace. ; i. • •.
“If* eversee him ata, governor’s convention, I
definitely won’t challenge him to an arm-wrestling
match,” he said.
■
Michigan voters Tuesday soundly rejected a bal
lot measure that would have made theirs the second
state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. With 16
percent of the vote counted, 71 percent were voting
to keep doctors from legally prescribing lethal doses
of medication for terminally ill patients. Opponents
said the vote reflected dissatisfaction with the pro
posed law, not with assisted suicide. ^ ;,
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The use of marijuana to ease symptoms for par
ticular illnesses won approval in Nevada and
Arizona. Arizonans reaffirmed their 1996 vote to
legalize marijuana and other drugs for medical use.
Nevadans passed a constitutional amendment
approving medical marijuana, pending a second
“yes” vote in 2000.
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one week only
November 2nd - November 7th
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