The Gang That Finally Shot Straight

I knew it was going to be a good night for House Democrats when I heard Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, looking uncharacteristically sheepish, unctuously assert on CNN's election coverage early on that his party was doing well, but the outcome of many races would not be known till morning. Doublespeak translation: We're going in the tank.

I knew it was going to be an even better night when I saw Newt Gingrich also hauled before the cameras to declare an early victory. Gingrich gave something of an Elmer Fudd sign-off, bidding the country a "that's all folks, I'm outta here."

What happened? How did Democrats manage to do what no presidential party has done in a midterm election since 1934? They had plenty of help. That's how.

Exit polls and election night analysis informed us that voters had issues and the economy - not Clinton - on their minds; that voters merely were endorsing the status quo. Republicans defensively and hypocritically offered that they couldn't get their message out, what with the Clinton scandal dominating the media. Yet these explanations belie the very real political revolt that was. When the average off-year gain for a non-presidential party in the House is in the neighborhood of 30 seats, a loss of 5 is a staggering development - far from even a semblance of status quo.

Notwithstanding exit polls, what happened is that Republicans loaded a gun and pointed it squarely at their forehead. The autopsy undoubtedly will go on for some time, but this was a suicide, pure and simple. Like all suicides, it didn't have to happen. Mindful of professional warnings of investigation overkill, Clinton-bashing fixation, and electoral reprisals, Speaker Gingrich personally approved last minute, anti-Clinton media saturation in 30 targeted congressional districts - a multimillion-dollar media blitz that one Republican strategist characterized at the time as "the stupidest" thing his party could do. With weeks of politically vindictive investigations having loaded the gun, Gingrich pulled the trigger.

House Republicans dove headfirst into porn distribution and hurriedly convened crucifixion parties, i.e., grand jury testimony release and secretive committee covens. More than a few Democrats sensed the Gang of 228 was well on its way to overplaying its hand and feared concurrently they would wise up in time to avoid the voters' wrath. But such apprehension is misplaced when it comes to bullies. They can't help themselves. A bully's persona is always to push too far, and Republicans did just that with their eleventh-hour bastinado of Clinton.

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