verge of recession. He accused Congressional liberals of spewing out the "class warfare
garbage" they always resurrect at election time. But none of this had any bite. [fn 56] On
November 3, Bush reached into his talk bag and pulled out Jimmy Carter, threatening
voters with a return to the "malaise days." According to Newseek, Bush had reacquired
that "electrocuted" look.
Bush went back to his staple offering: hysterical, rage-driven warmongering, with an
extra dividend for some audiences coming through the clear racist overtones. Once
Congress had adjourned, one observer noted, "Bush was able to switch to his favorite
script, 'Desperately Seeking Saddam.'" [fn 57] Bush grimaced and pouted against the
"butcher of Baghdad" trying to look like a more genteel, Anglo-Saxon Mussolini.
Saddam was now "Hitler revisited." Later, there were estimates that Bush's exclusive
concentration on the war theme had saved one to two senate seats, and perhaps half a
dozen in the House.
But Bush came dangerously close to overdoing it. In the last days of October, he had
begun a demagogic effort to whip up hysteria about the US citzens interned by Iraq. "I
have had it" with the Iraqi handling of the internees, was now Bush's favorite line. When
Bush wrapped himself in the flag, he expected the Democrats to kow-tow, but now there
was some opposition. Bush met with some 15 Congressional leaders active in foreign
policy, and began raving about the "horrible, barbarous" conditions of the hostages.
Sharp questions were immediately posed by Democrats, many of them facing re-election
in a few days. According to one Congressman, "They were asking, in not so many words,
Is this trumped up? If it isn't, how come we just have started hearing about it in the
middle of this political mess the president is in? It seems to be coming out of nowhere.
Dante Fascell said the Democrats had told Bush, "If there is additional provocation [by
Iraq], it better be real and able to stand up to press scrutiny." Too bad the Democrats had
not applied that standard to the whole trumped-up Gulf crisis. [fn 58]
The result of the November 6 election was a deep disappointment to Republicans; Bush's
party lost one senate seat, 9 House seats, and one governorship. Not all of these gains
went to Democrats, since disgruntled voters gave two governorships and one House seat
to independents outside of the two party system. Most dramatic was the anti-incumbent
mood against governors, where economic crisis and tax revolt had been on the agenda all
year: the governing party, whether Republican or Democrat, was ousted in 14 of the 36
state houses that were contested. For Bush there were very special disappointments: he
had campaigned very hard for Clayton Williams in Texas and for Governor Bob Martinez
in Florida, but Bush's coattails proved non-existent to negative; Democrats won both
governorships. The loss of Texas and Florida was a very ominous threat for Bush's 1992
re-election campaign, since these were the two indispensable keystones of the Southern
Strategy. Now, that GOP lock on the Electoral College might be drawing to a close. But
unforunately, that was for the future: Bush's repudiation at the polls this time around was
not enough to reduce him to an impotent lame duck with no mandate to wage war. Bush
was now a wounded beast who could, and would, lash out.