HOW BUSH OUTWITTED THE DEMS

摘要

As closely fought midterm campaigns went down to the wire, Republicans sensed that a subterranean tide might be flowing their way in the final days bf Election '02. But when they awoke on Nov. 6 to discover that George W. Bush had just become the first U. S. leader since FDR to see his party sweep both House and Senate races in a by-election, something akin to euphoria hit the normally staid Bush Administration. Asked for his reaction to the bonanza, Budget Director Mitch Daniels said: "I wish it was [the movie] Groundhog Day. I wouldn't mind living this over and over." No doubt about it, Republicans are cheering the Bush-led congressional romp and are relieved by the Democrats' failure to make good on a vow to capture a majority of the nation's governorships. Dispirited Dems, meantime, are bracing for a round of recriminations about the election that got away (page 40).