Democrats Pin Congressional Hopes On Gingrich
Two years ago, Democratic candidates for Congress ran with little mention of their then-unpopular president. This year, they are more than happy to run with President Clinton rather than away from him.
But his rise in popularity is not the main reason for Democrats’ optimism that their party will regain a majority on Capitol Hill. They’re counting on a backlash against House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a Republican Congress they call “extremist.”
At convention events across Chicago, Democrats have labeled the opposition presidential ticket “Dole-Gingrich.” Vice President Al Gore began the barrage in a speech to a labor audience, calling the pair a “two-headed monster.”
The demonizing of Gingrich is nothing new. Democrats justify it here as a useful way to compare the Republican and Democratic legislative agendas.
According to House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, the Republican-led 104th Congress has “pursued an extremist agenda, undeterred by collapsing support of their agenda.”
That agenda, he said, included GOP support for slowing increases in Medicare spending, cuts in school loans, a “rollback of environmental protection” and “raids on pensions.”
“What this is about is not personal. This is about saying there are real differences,” said Ann Lewis, Clinton-Gore deputy campaign manager. She cited the two campaigns’ differences over the assault-weapons ban and aid to education.
Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, says Democrats will win the 19 seats they need for a majority in the 435-seat House.
The last two times the Republicans gained a majority in the House, they lost it in the next election - in 1948 and 1954.
Republicans dismiss the Democrats’ reasoning. “They’re whistling past the graveyard,” GOP chairman Haley Barbour said.
As evidence of their optimism at the congressional level, Democrats point to the two parties’ treatment of their House and Senate candidates and leaders.
For example, Democrats are ridiculing Gingrich for being assigned to talk about beach volleyball at his party’s convention. He’s been given “the status of a potted palm until after the election,” Lewis said.
Democrats have showcased a number of congressional candidates during convention week. Fourteen Senate candidates and 20 House candidates were scheduled to address the convention - including three in coveted prime-time slots Tuesday night.
So far, the party has signaled more optimism about its chances in the House than in the Senate.
Democratic strategists say 28 Republicans hold districts that traditionally vote Democratic, and 77 districts Clinton won in 1992.
In the Senate, where the GOP has a 53-47 edge, Democrats would need a net pickup of three seats to regain control, because Gore would cast tie-breaking votes.
Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader in the Senate, say the party has a 50-50 chance to win the Senate. Democrats could end up anywhere from 48 to 52 seats,” he said at a breakfast this week, noting the unprecedented number of open seats - 14 - because of retirements.
Independent analyst Charles Cook, who publishes a political newsletter in Washington, said the key to the Democrats’ reestablishing control of the House is “how many Republican freshmen go down in flames.” He gives Democrats a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of winning the House.
xxxx MOST ANNOYING Democratic pollster Peter Hart said 45 percent of Americans have named the GOP speaker “the most annoying political figure today - 3-1/2 times as annoying as Ross Perot.”