Republicans face sharp rebuke

Expected to gain up to five seats in the Senate where they held a 55-45 majority, the Republicans barely managed to hang on to the same margin as the Democrats won 18 of the 34 seats up for grabs, including some prized seats. Only one-third of the Senate seats go to the polls every two years.

In fact, the biggest story of thenight was the defeat of two Republican Senators who were despised by the White House for their campaign against the Clintons.

In what was the heavyweight bout of the election, three-time New York Senator Alphonse D8217;Amato was defeated by Democratic challenger Charles Schumer after a bitter and expensive campaign in course of which the two men spent upward of 30 million.

D8217;Amato headed the Whitewater scandal inquiry which first set the ball rolling for the Republicans 8212; only to run over them in the end. The Clintons visited New York six times to campaign for Schumer against D8217;Amato and champagne corks were popping among Democrats at the fall of the man who had battered the White House.

In another big setback to Republicans, North Carolina Senator Lauch Faircloth was felled by Democratic contender John Edwards, a wealthy trial lawyer. Faircloth was also associated with the partisan right and was on the White House hit list.

But the biggest prize for Democrats came from California which became entirelyDemocratic. Democrats wrested the governorship of the state and also one of the two Senate seats up for re-election. Sitting Senator Barbara Boxer, related to the Clintons by marriage and all but written off two weeks ago, fought off a challenge from Matt Fong, one of the very few Asian Americans in the contest.

In fact, the minority vote was what saved Clinton and the Democrats. Initial studies of voting patterns suggested that the Black minority turned out in strength in response to appeals by the President not let the Republicans use the sex scandal to hijack the social agenda. Black voting percentage went up to 11 per cent from six per cent in the 1994 election and 88 per cent of that chunk voted Democrat. Hispanic vote went up from 2 pc to 6 pc with 65 pc voting Democrat.

Clinton made a direct bid to get the minorities to vote with some brilliant tactical thinking. While the Republicans were spending money on ads on his character, the Democrats in the last weekend went on an ad binge solely aimedat getting the minorities to the polling booth. The party placed thousands of house to house automated calls from Clinton calling people to vote. The move paid rich dividends and even Republicans conceded that they had failed to attract the minorities, if not totally alienated them.

The only bright lining for the GOP was the victory of former President George Bush8217;s sons, George and Jeb. They both won gubernatorial contests in Texas and Florida respectively.

Significantly, the Bush brothers won handsomely because they managed to get a large share of minority Hispanic votes both Texas and Florida have big Hispanic population by embracing a more moderate brand of conservatism. Pundits said there was a lesson in this for the Republicans 8212; eschew extreme right philosophy.

The political reading is that the results will give a big push to the Presidential aspirations of George Bush Jr. He will be a hot favourite for the Republican nomination in 2000. The pundits struggled to read meaning into the verdict.While the general reading was that the voters had delivered a stiff disapproval at the Republican effort to impeach the President, exit polls showed most people saying President Clinton and his scandals were not a factor in their voting preference.

One interpretation was that the majority of the voters were endorsing the economic agenda of the Democratic party which has seen an unprecedented creation of jobs and wealth, leading to an all-round send of well-being in the country. The old slogan, It8217;s the economy, stupid8217;, still rings true in the US.