highlight his differences with Bush. Many of the other tapes were never used; many of those
endorsed pleaded as an excuse that their fundranever had the money to put them on the air. ising had been ruined by Bush's tax policy, so they
Bush attempted to regroup by seeking new demagogic themes. For those struggling with economic
depression he offered...term limits for members of Congress, in the hands of the GOP a transparent
attempt to flush out Democratic incumbents. Term limitation, said Bush, was "an idea whose timehas come." "America doesn't need a liberal House of Lords," said Bush in Oklahoma City.
"America needs a Republican Congress." The Democrats "truly believe they deserve to be elected
from now until kingdom come," said Bush in Los Angeles. The response was less than
overwhelming. Then Bush tried to blame the depression on the Democrats. The venue chosen was a
$1000 a"strong medicine" of the defecit package, Bush claimed, "is required because the Democratically plate fundraiser for Sen. Pete Wilson, who wanted to be governor of California. The (^)
controlled Congress has been on an uncontrolled spending binge for years." In Oklahoma City, he
averred that the Democrats had "choked the economy" and brought the country to the 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] Oreached into his talk bag and pulled out Jimmy Carter, threatening voters with a return to then November 3, Bush
"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 tobserver noted, "Bush was able to switch to his favorite script, 'Desperately Seeking Saddam.'" [fnhe clear racist overtones. Once Congress had adjourned, one (^)
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 withsome 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. DanteFascell 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 lostone 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 tspecial disappointments: he had campaigned very hard for Clhe 36 state houses that were contested. For Bush there were veryayton 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