7. I'd be interested in seeing support for the view that the Congressional results were "disastrous"
The repubs had picked up 54 House seats two years earlier. They had a terrible presidential candidate. The shutdown severely damaged Gingrich's reputation and standing both with the public and with his own caucus and that had the effect of damaging the "contract with America." But the shutdown had de minimis impact on the 1996 elections. Clinton won, which would have been the case even without the shutdown. And the repubs still added to their Senate majority and suffered only small losses in the House. It would be another decade before the Democrats could recapture the House, which tells you something about how little impact the shutdown really had on the 1996 and subsequent elections.
Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators
Important Notices: By participating on this discussion
board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the
opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent
the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.