Republican Renaissance?

Republican Renaissance?

Gingrich

The congressional elections of 1994 resulted in a Republican landslide as voters across the country, angered by President Bill Clinton's liberal agenda and afraid of socialized medicine, turned en masse to the Republican candidates. Much of the credit for their success, however, must be attributed to Representative Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich (R-Georgia), who came to Congress in 1978 with the goal of becoming Speaker of the House. As far-fetched as the goal may have seemed, Gingrich continued in this pursuit until 1990, when he was elected Minority Whip by the Republican Caucus. That position put him second in line to Minority Leader Robert Henry Michel (R-Ilinois), a moderate, whose gentlemanly demeanor was at odds with the scrappy and antagonistic style of Gingrich. When Michel announced his retirement in 1994, Gingrich seized the opportunity for leadership by promoting a "Contract with America."

Republican Promises

The Contract with America promised eight legislative reforms in the first one hundred days of the 104th Congress and ten major pieces of legislation in the following one hundred days. The Republicans promised to clean up Congress by requiring that all federal legislation be applicable to Congress, reducing the number of committees, opening committee meetings to the public, requiring a three-fifths vote on tax bills, banning proxy votes, limiting the terms of committee chairs, and cleaning up budgeting and auditing processes. While these congressional reforms were rather sweeping, the proposed legislative agenda was even broader, as it included bills advocating a federal balanced-budget amendment, an anticrime package, programs to discourage teen pregnancy, stronger child-support enforcement, incometax reform, litigation reform, and congressional term limits. Each of these areas struck a chord with the American people. There was general agreement that the federal government had become too big and pervasive, although there was not accord on which areas should be cut. The Contract seemed to be a rational solution to the perceived moral decay of the late twentieth century, and also had the advantage of putting many pet projects of the Republican leadership into a framework that was easy to understand. For many congressmen, it may have been too easy. Even congressmen who had strong apprehensions about the wisdom of a balanced-budget amendment, or who were personally opposed to congressional term limits, found it difficult not to sign the document. Democrats were forced into the uncomfortable position of seeming to favor crime or teenage pregnancy if they opposed the Contract or the Republicans.

Tug of War

The Republicans hammered on conservative moral themes during the 1994 election and had a heyday with President Clinton's actions and political positions. His amorous affairs and support of homosexuals in the military, as well as questions about his personal ethics relating to the Whitewater land deal and draft dodging, all created an aura of untrustworthiness. Not surprisingly, the Republicans won fifty-four seats in the House of Representatives and four seats in the Senate, gaining control of both chambers, and picked up several governorships. Gingrich wasted no time in pushing the Contract with America. During the first one hundred days of the 104th Congress, nine out of ten proposed articles were adopted into law. Only the issue of term limits was defeated, an unsurprising outcome in an institution based on seniority. Even President Clinton admitted defeat. Shortly after the election, he announced to the American people that "he had gotten the message." The "Comeback Kid," as Clinton was nicknamed, did come back. He spent the next two years pursuing moderate economic policies—which led to a booming economy—and backtracking on his earlier liberal agenda. While Clinton pursued the moderate road, Gingrich and the Republican Congress seemed to be ideological zealots on a conservative crusade. By staking out the conservative electorate as their base of support, the Republicans left the large middle area for the Democrats; this area came back to haunt them two years later.

NEWT RESIGNS

On 6 November 1998, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) announced that he would not run for the post that year:

Today I have reached a difficult personal decision. I will not be candidate for Speaker of the 106th Congress. The Republican conference needs to be unified, and it is time for me to move forward where I believe I still have a significant role to play for our country and our party. My party will have my full support, and I will do all I can to help us win in 2000.

I urge my colleagues to pick leaders who can both reconcile and discipline, who can work together and communicate effectively. They have my prayers and my thoughts as they undertake this task.

I want to thank everyone whose friendship and support has made these years enjoyable. Marianne and I are grateful to the citizens of Georgia who gave us the wonderful opportunity to represent them and to my Republican colleagues who became our extended family. Thank you and God bless you.

Source:

Washington Post (7 November 1998).

Startling Setback

Most political observers expected that the Republicans would fare well in the 1996 elections. Since President Richard M. Nixon had formulated the Southern Strategy in 1968, which combined the Sunbelt (California to the Carolinas) with the heartland (Midwest farming states) to form the nucleus of the party, Republicans had held an advantage in all presidential elections. That base should have held firm in 1996. However, a grueling Republican primary campaign, Clinton's moderate legislative agenda, an exceedingly strong economy, and the return of H. Ross Perot to the campaign trail all helped in the end to propel Clinton back into office. The early Republican primaries featured several important candidates: Senate Majority Leader Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole (R-Kansas), former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Jack French Kemp, multimillionaire businessman Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes Jr., veteran candidate and television commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, and former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander. Dole, an able politician, locked up the most political support and handily won the nomination for president. He selected Kemp to be his running mate. Kemp, a former professional football player, had an easygoing style and was considerably younger than the seventy-year-old Dole. While Dole was favorably regarded by the American public for his heroic World War II record and his years in the Senate, he was unable to build a majority. He was handi-capped by Perot's reentry into the race. While Perot represented the Reform Party he was unable to muster the same amount of interest or support he had generated four years earlier. Nevertheless, he continued to be a spoiler in favor of the Democrats by distracting independents and populist Republicans. Dole was also running against an incumbent president in peacetime, and the country was experiencing a strong economy. Clinton had used the two intervening years between the 1994 debacle and 1996 election to re-create himself as a moderate. Because Dole had been forced to fight for the conservative vote in the primaries, he entered the general election positioned further to the Right than where he felt comfortable and was unable to make up the difference by election day. Clinton won reelection relatively easily with 49.24 percent of the popular vote, defeating Dole (40.71 percent) and Perot (8.40 percent).

Moderate Retreat

After President Clinton's reelection, the Republican leadership was forced to moderate their legislative agenda. Despite their loss, they were not about to let Clinton have an easy second term. They simply changed the arena of combat from the legislature to the courts. They chose Kenneth W. Starr to be the independent counsel in charge of the Whitewater investigation. Starr was dogged in his pursuit of Clinton. The investigation was so unrelenting and seemed to many so mean-spirited, resulting in calls for impeachment of the president, that Americans turned their anger toward Starr and Gingrich and away from Clinton. Had the economy been weaker the Republicans might have achieved some midterm election victories, but despite Clinton's troubles, the Democrats gained seats in the 1998 election. This Democratic success was such a blow to the Republicans and Gingrich's leadership that a few days later he resigned both from his position as Speaker and his seat in the House of Representatives. While the Republicans continued to control both houses of congress, they no longer had a strong and aggressive leader. Robert Linlightgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. (R-Louisiana) was chosen to succeed Gingrich, but before he could be formally voted in, he resigned because of allegations of marital infidelity. On 6 January 1999 House Republicans chose John Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) to serve as Speaker of the House. After Clinton's acquittal in the Senate trial, Hastert spent the rest of the year attempting to rebuild bridges in the House. The decade ended with a divided government and with the Republican Party gearing up for another shot at the presidency in 2000.

Sources:

Dan T. Carter, From George Wallace to Newt Gingrich: Race in the Conservative Counterrevolution 1963-1994 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996).

Newt Gingrich, To Renew America (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).

Judith Warner and Max Berley, Newt Gingrich: Speaker to America (New York: Signet, 1995).