National Journal articles from November 1998

National Journal archives from November 1998

IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE WHINING.(impeachment of President Bill Clinton)
November 7, 1998... Asked in a television interview last month whether the election results will change the tenor of the impeachment argument on Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey of Texas rose to a lofty altitude of statesmanship. "No, I don't...

How Will They Govern?
November 7, 1998... THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS AND INTERNAL WARFARE IN THE GOP COULD THWART PROSPECTS FOR MOVEMENT. It's tempting to see the recent election as a sign that Washington may be ready to stop squabbling and finally get something done. Chastened...

The Head-Hunting Begins.
November 7, 1998... AFTER THEIR PARTY'S PATHETIC ELECTION SHOWING, RANK-AND-FILE HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE OUT FOR BLOOD, STARTING WITH NEWT GINGRICH'S. As the news sank in that their 11-seat majority had not increased in Tuesday's elections, as nearly everyone...

Year of the Insider.
November 7, 1998... INCUMBENTS FARED SMASHINGLY, AS MUNDANE POLITICAL TOOLS AND TURNOUT TRUMPED BIG IDEAS. Want a recipe for a successful Senate campaign in 1998? Forget about railing against Washington. Ditch any ideas about making a big deal of presidential...

Vanquishing Acts.(1998 elections)
November 7, 1998... The nicest thing about elections is their clarifying effect. There are winners, and there are losers. And here they are: Winners Hillary Rodham Clinton: Hillary did not stand by her own particular man in this campaign--the first lady...

The New Rainbow Coalitions.
November 7, 1998... The biggest winners on Nov. 3 were neither the Democrats nor the Republicans, but minorities, as minority voting blocs proved to be the "must-get" votes for both parties in key races across the country. In states with significant concentrations...

Wrestling With Failure.
November 7, 1998... THE GOVERNORS' RESULTS SEEM TO POINT TOWARD THE RISE OF MODERATION AMONG BOTH REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS. At times, it seemed that this year's governors' races had been scripted far in advance. Modest or perhaps even major gains for the GOP...

Next Up: Gore vs. Bush?
November 7, 1998... AL GORE AND GEORGE W. BUSH SOLIDIFIED THEIR POSITIONS AS FRONT-RUNNERS IN THE 2000 RACE. Whoops and hollers rang out on election night at Al Gore's house, as more than 30 of the vice president's close friends, political allies and future...

What Hath Bill Wrought?
November 7, 1998... On Nov. 3, 1992, the day William Jefferson Clinton first stood for election as the Democratic nominee for president, his party was firmly in control of both chambers of Congress. In the Senate, Democrats enjoyed a 57-to-43 advantage over the...

Biographies of New Governors and New Members of Congress.
November 7, 1998... You don't have to be a lawyer to make laws, but 18 of the 48 new senators and representatives are attorneys, according to biographies compiled by the National Journal Group. A couple of new doctors will also be joining the House--one of whom is...

It's All on the Table (or in a Chart).
November 7, 1998... AT A GLANCE OLD NEW SENATE D 45 45 R 55 55 HOUSE D 206 211 R 228 ...

THE RESULTS: THE HOUSE.
November 7, 1998... ALABAMA PERCENT 1. Sonny Callahan, R U 2. R. Terry Everett, R 69 3. Bob Riley, R 58 4. Robert Aderholt, R 56...

THE RESULTS: THE SENATE.
November 7, 1998... The Senate that convenes in January will have 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats. Here are the unofficial results of the 34 Senate races on Nov. 3. ALABAMA PERCENT Clayton Suddith, D 37%...

THE LINEUP: THE SENATE IN THE 106TH CONGRESS.
November 7, 1998... FIRST ELECTED OR APPOINTED Spencer Abraham, R-Mich. 1994 Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii 1990 Wayne Allard, R-Colo. ...

THE RESULTS: THE GOVERNORS.
November 7, 1998... Here are the unofficial results of the 36 elections for governor on Nov. 3. ALABAMA PERCENT Don Siegelman, D 58% Fob James Jr., R 42 ALASKA ...

EXIT POLLS: HOW RECENT ELECTIONS COMPARE.
November 7, 1998... 1998 SHARE PERCENT PERCENT OF VOTING VOTING VOTERS...

EXIT POLLS: BY THE NUMBERS, REGION BY REGION.
November 7, 1998... NATIONAL SHARE PERCENT PERCENT OF VOTING VOTING VOTERS DEMOCRATIC...

MOOD SWINGS.
November 7, 1998... Exit polls show that voters are more satisfied with the economy, their own financial situations and the direction of the country than they were in the early 1990s. The issues that matter most to voters have also changed in recent years. ...

EXIT POLLS: GENDER, PARTY DIFFERENCES.
November 7, 1998... The differences in the voting patterns of men and women have been much noted in recent elections. In 1998, here's the percentage of men and women who: MEN WOMEN Voted for a Democrat ...

D-Day for the Pros.
November 7, 1998... In a great day for Democrats, Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group, a Washington-based Democratic polling firm, emerged as the star of the political consulting industry. Of Garin-Hart-Yang's 10 gubernatorial and Senate clients, 7 won. Even more...

FINALLY, THE ROLLER-COASTER RIDE STOPS.
November 7, 1998... Every election has its own personality, its own set of idiosyncrasies and nuances. Even so, the 1998 election results were the weirdest in my memory. In the early morning hours on Wednesday, when it was apparent that Democrats were going to...

THOSE MURKY, MURKY, MURKY CRYSTAL BALLS.
November 7, 1998... "He who lives by the crystal ball cats ground glass," political scientist Larry J. Sabato quipped. In an election that confounded all political pundits, adding five House Democrats, subtracting a Republican governor and leaving the Senate as it...

A Good Day for Pot and Roosters.(1998 elections)
November 7, 1998... In this year's ballot initiatives, a smattering of issues--affirmative action, campaign finance reform and medical marijuana--prompted voters to depart in dramatic, even radical, fashion from current government policies. But more often, voters...

For Incumbents, a Fistful of Dollars.
November 7, 1998... If the $1 billion spent on the 1998 congressional elections proves anything, it's the adage "nothing succeeds like excess." A deluge of money helped pave the way to victory for an overwhelming number of House and Senate incumbents in 1998....

THE IMPEACHMENT IMPLOSION.
November 7, 1998... Given that the 1998 midterm election results showed little voter support for removing Bill Clinton from office, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill must now decide how far to push the impeachment process. If you buy the notion that the...

IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID.
November 7, 1998... What were the voters trying to say on Election Day? Were they making a statement about the Monica Lewinsky scandal? No. They were making a statement about President Clinton's performance. The statement was: It's working. This midterm...

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S PROFESSORS.(President Bill Clinton)
November 14, 1998... The celebrated historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., assuring a House Judiciary subcommittee on Nov. 9 that Congress cannot constitutionally impeach President Clinton for his "disgraceful" lies, distilled the essence of his scholarly advice into...

A RADICAL NOTION: REFORM SOCIAL SECURITY--REALLY.
November 14, 1998... The support that American voters have expressed for Bill Clinton has given the president a new chance at political life, but also a lot to live up to. If for the next two years Clinton does nothing more than occupy the White House, the country...

After the Riot.
November 14, 1998... THE CHALLENGES THAT BOB LIVINGSTON FACES IN LEADING BADLY DIVIDED HOUSE REPUBLICANS COULD BE OVERWHELMING. HERE'S WHAT HE MUST DO TO SURVIVE. Bob Livingston's honeymoon as the next speaker of the House was over before it began; there just...

Armey's Boots May Be for Walkin'.
November 14, 1998... For many House Republicans, getting rid of Speaker Newt Gingrich was not enough. Calls for a completely new GOP leadership team have prolonged the Republicans' unusually public family feud and put Majority Leader Richard K. Armey, R-Texas, in...

For Friends of Bob, the Time Is Now.
November 14, 1998... Over drinks at The Palm and other K Street watering holes, plenty of lobbyists are quietly toasting the prospect of having Bob Livingston, R-La., as the next speaker of the House. Numerous defense, oil and insurance industry lobbyists--as well...

Vouchers, Go Forth.(Milwaukee's educational vouchers)
November 14, 1998... WITH THE SUPREME COURT'S ACQUIESCENCE, TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCHOOL VOUCHERS ARE STARTING TO EVOLVE OUT OF THE PRIVATELY FINANCED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS POPPING UP AROUND THE COUNTRY. Milwaukee--Turn left as you enter Messmer High School, past the...

AND NOW, THE DENOUEMENT.(President Bill Clinton's impeachment)
November 14, 1998... Let's start with a given. President Clinton will not be removed from office for impeachable offenses. It just won't happen. Barring Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr's coming up with something new and explosive--something that goes beyond...

BOMBS OVER BAGHDAD, AGAIN, MAYBE.(US policy towards Iraq)
November 14, 1998... Once more (it's beginning to seem like evermore) into the breach with Saddam Hussein. And once more, the questions in Washington are much the same. Will the United States strike, or will Saddam's cheat be met with another American retreat? And...

People.(government officials)
November 14, 1998... Around the Agencies Elizabeth Anne Moler, a respected Energy Department official who last month left the agency's No. 2 post, has landed in the Washington office of the Houston-based law firm of Vinson & Elkins, where she'll be a partner....

VERNER, LIIPFERT SMOKES ITS RIVALS.(lobbying)
November 14, 1998... Floating in a vast spittoon of tobacco money, Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand remained the No. 1 lobbying shop during the first six months of 1998, with its fees soaring to $12.9 million. Roughly $7 million came from five...

From the K Street Corridor.(lobbying)
November 14, 1998... Wild About Harry One of the great things about Washington is that with enough money, you can hire anybody. The United Arab Emirates has retained Washington legend Harry McPherson, a former top aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, and it's...

AUTHENTICALLY YOURS, JESSE.(Jesse Ventura)
November 14, 1998... As the election results remind us, political journalism is a crude and endlessly fallible device, about as reliable as a Ouija board, although not as much fun. For all the sophistication of the pollsters and political pros who would read the...

A MELTING POT CHILLS IN ARKANSAS.(immigration issues)
November 14, 1998... Rogers, Ark.--While Hispanic voters across the country helped elect Democrats and moderate Republicans who preached inclusiveness, here in the Ozark foothills, the melting pot got doused. On Nov. 3, Rogers gave the boot to 17-year incumbent...

WORKERS OF THE WORLD, INSURE!(health insurance)
November 14, 1998... The already-strained marriage between jobs and health insurance--the bane of the American system of medical care--may be damaged further by a spate of horror stories coming out of Florida and Ohio. As the only country in the world that ties its...

MORE GOOD NEWS FOR CLINTON?(President Bill Clinton)
November 14, 1998... Just as the midterm election results may have provided some relief for President Clinton on the impeachment front, the outcome could help dissipate another dark cloud that's been hanging over the White House--an independent counsel's probe of...

HOW THE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES LOOK NOW.(1998 elections)
November 14, 1998... It's champagne time at the Democratic campaign committees and blame time at the GOP panels, as Democrats exceeded everyone's expectations in both the House and Senate contests on Election Day. A close look suggests several factors. Since the...

OUTSIDERS WHO ARE SETTING THE PACE.(Republicans)
November 14, 1998... Campaigning last month for what would be a landslide reelection, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge seemed bemused by the way he and other Republican governors are regarded by their party colleagues in Congress. "They treat us like a special...

Hotline Extra.(newspaper quotations about Newt Gingrich's departure)
November 14, 1998... Newt Revisited Newt Gingrich's decision to give up his post as House speaker was scrutinized this week by the nation's editorial writers, many of whom saw historic significance in the history professor's tenure. A sampling of newspapers:...

THE CAMPAIGN'S DIRTY DOZEN.(1998 elections' negative advertising)
November 14, 1998... How low can you go? Pretty darned low, as it turns out. With the 1998 election now behind us, "Spot Check" takes a look at the art of going negative, with a roundup of the cycle's finest bottom-feeding, sludge-slinging campaign ads. Last...

CORRECTIONS.
November 14, 1998... In our Special Report on Election 1998, a table of exit poll results by region (11/7/98, p. 2669) contained some incorrect column headings. The Democratic and Republican column headings are switched in the results for the South and West. A...

TO THE `NEW RICH,' BILL'S OK.(President Bill Clinton's public image)
November 14, 1998... One constituency in particular deserves credit for the Democrats' unanticipated Election Day gains. It's a group that also had a lot to do with House Speaker Newt Gingrich's subsequent downfall. Nobody talked about them during the campaign....

Is the Assassination Ban Dead?(US policies concerning Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden)
November 21, 1998... "When we saw Osama bin Laden carry out that bombing attack in Africa, we sent a very strong message by going after his colleagues, and himself, hopefully, in Afghanistan. We weren't [able]... to hit as many terrorists as we wanted, but we sent...

The Last Gasp of Jim Crow.(sodomy laws)
November 21, 1998... At a moment when Washington's eyes are fixed on Kenneth Starr and Saddam Hussein, I make bold to ask you to divert your attention, for just a few moments, to two other men, named John Geddes Lawrence and Tyrone Garner. In the occasionally great...

Starr's Last Chance.(Kenneth W. Starr)
November 21, 1998... HE PROFESSED REVERENCE FOR THE LAW, PASSION FOR JUSTICE AND PRIDE IN HIS INVESTIGATION. OSTENSIBLY, KENNETH STARR'S TESTIMONY WAS ABOUT PRESIDENT CLINTON, BUT IT OFTEN SEEMED MORE ABOUT RECLAIMING HIS OWN GOOD NAME. In midsummer of 1994,...

The New Deal.
November 21, 1998... INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS TRANSFORMING THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, TRIGGERING MERGERS, CONSOLIDATIONS AND NEW FORMS OF COMPETITION. CAN FEDERAL REGULATORS KEEP UP? The antitrust trial of Microsoft Corp. is grabbing headlines these days, but it's...

Now, the Hard Part.(Medicare reform)
November 21, 1998... MEDICARE HAS LONG DEFIED ATTEMPTS TO REFORM IT. BUT A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION SHOWS SIGNS OF COALESCING BEHIND A MARKET-ORIENTED APPROACH TO KEEP THE SYSTEM AFLOAT. The conventional wisdom is that not much of anything will get done in...

FOR LIVINGSTON, NO DREAM TEAM.
November 21, 1998... As incoming Speaker Bob Livingston, R-La., introduced his new leadership team on Wednesday, House Republicans put on a brave face. The talk, as might be expected, was of unity, historic milestones and the great achievements that lie ahead. But...

THE PERILS OF BRINKMANSHIP.(US military policy)
November 21, 1998... When the Clinton Administration devised a strategy of "constructive engagement" to keep a turbulent world in check, it's doubtful officials foresaw how often the U.S. military would be called upon to confront the forces of destruction in...

CLINTON AND TOBACCO: WHAT NOW?(President Bill Clinton)
November 21, 1998... "We must help parents protect their children from the gravest health threat that they face: an epidemic of teen smoking, spread by multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns," President Clinton said in his State of the Union address 10 months ago....

People.(former White House Press Secretary Michael D. McCurry )
November 21, 1998... Image Makers After weighing several attractive Washington public relations opportunities, former White House Press Secretary Michael D. McCurry has settled in with some pals from his days on then-vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen's...

THE STARS SELL A SATELLITE DEAL.
November 21, 1998... By early next year, look for more satellite-industry lobbyists circling Capitol Hill than there are moons orbiting Saturn. The commercial satellite industry's latest lobbying effort was precipitated by Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Sept. 20...

From the K Street Corridor.
November 21, 1998... The Kings of Clout Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand not only makes more money than any other Washington lobbying firm, it's also the most powerful lobbying shop in the nation's capital, according to Fortune magazine, which...

LOUISIANA PURCHASE.(political activity)
November 21, 1998... New Orleans--When New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri sat down with Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Antoine's here in 1937, the gala luncheon featured oysters Rockefeller, the restaurant's signature dish. The meal became the stuff of local legend...

HIZZONER, THE PIZZA MAN.(reparative probation programs)
November 21, 1998... Middlebury, Vt.--Cliff Adams looked across the cramped courtroom and smiled at Arthur Pelkey. "Hello, Arthur," he said. Pelkey, a hulking young man with a boyish face, nodded in reply, and settled into a chair still wearing his coat and hat....

STAYED FROM THE BENCH.
November 21, 1998... THE JUDICIARY Judge James A. Beaty Jr. has been waiting a very long time just to put on a new black robe. Three years ago, President Clinton nominated Beaty, a North Carolina federal district judge, to serve on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court...

VIEWS ON THE AMERICAN SCENE.
November 21, 1998... The President Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling his job as president? (Chilton Research Services for ABC News) 11/98 APPROVE 63% DISAPPROVE 36 NO OPINION 1 ...

TIME TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP.(Democratic Party presidential candidates)
November 21, 1998... For the Democratic presidential aspirants in 2000, D-Day is drawing near. With more and more states crowding their primaries onto the starting line of the nominating contest, and with the looming imperative of raising money, the White House...

GRIDLOCK AHEAD? DON'T BET ON IT YET.(Congressional activities)
November 21, 1998... Washington lobbyists who depend on billable hours are quaking in their Guccis these days, worried that the 106th Congress will be even more moribund than its predecessor. The conventional wisdom is that, in the House, legislation with even a...

Hotline Extra.(News Briefs)
November 21, 1998... Saving Chairman Jim While the postelection demise of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is what captured the news media's attention, another Republican leader is also under fire: Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson. Some...

DICK GEPHARDT: WILL HE OR WON'T HE?
November 21, 1998... The Democratic pickup of five House seats on Election Day has sparked speculation, fanned by unidentified congressional aides, that House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., is having second thoughts about competing with Vice President...

CORRECTION.(Correction to National Journal, Oct 31 1998, p. 2458)
November 21, 1998... A recent story (10/31/98, p. 2458) incorrectly stated that Washington's Patton Boggs has acquired Hughes & Luce, a Texas-based law firm. Twelve Hughes & Luce banking lawyers joined Patton Bogg's Dallas office in 1997, but Hughes & Luce...

BOB'S MONEY TALKS. AND FAST.
November 21, 1998... The selection of Bob Livingston, R-La., by his GOP colleagues to be the next speaker of the House has nothing to do with vision or message. It has to do with survival. After all, it is by no means clear that a speaker is supposed to provide...