Back to Clive Crook's blog homepageIt is always depressing to see Starbucks deploy its Christmas-themed cups at the beginning of November. In much the same way, one does not wish to be reminded that the next US mid-term elections are just two years and one recession away. Still, facts must be faced.
Two years after the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, the Republican party seized control of Congress. The Democratic administration henceforth had to work with the enemy. What can the Republicans do to make this happen again?
The Republican triumph of 1994 was due to unforced errors on the administration’s side (gays in the military, the hubristic overreach of Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan) and remarkably effective Republican leadership in Congress (Newt Gingrich and the “Contract with America”).
The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post your comments below.
I have been the FT's Washington columnist since April 2007. I moved from Britain to the US in 2005 to write for the Atlantic Monthly and the National Journal after 20 years working at the Economist, most recently as deputy editor. I write mainly about the intersection of politics and economics.
