Election Coverage 1994: McLaughlin Group (Part 1)

This was the McLaughlin Group show after the 1994 Midterm Election, in which the Newt Gingrich-led GOP took control of the US House for the first time in 40 years, and the GOP gained 8 seats to win the majority in the US Senate that it lost in 1986. One of the Democrats elected in 1986, Richard Shelby of Alabama, switched to the GOP the day after the 1994 election. Given today's political climate, and the growing consensus that the GOP will do very well in 2010, and may even take the House, it is interesting to draw some contrasts and comparisons between now and 1994. For instance, while in 1994 it was generally thought that the GOP's victory in the Senate was a better bet than the GOP winning the House, the reverse appears to be true today. The House was a bit of a surprise in 1994. The Senate would be, I think, in 2010.

A comparison can be drawn from old line liberal Jack Germond's view that the public that put the GOP in power in 1994 were not interested in an activist GOP Congress, but simply wanted the government to stop spending money and get out of the public's lives. You see that sentiment in a big way as the 2010 elections approach.

I noticed that a major element of the GOP platform in 1994 was the decentralization of power away from the Federal Government and the delegation of those powers, and presumably federal tax money as well, to the states. An approach and plan like this is intuitive and would, in my opinion, be popular with today's electorate, especially in view of Obama and the Democrats' perceived excesses in expanding federal governmental power so much and so rapidly.

So IF the GOP is able to win one or both chambers of Congress, perhaps it can take the same approach toward decentralization as it builds public support for the dismantling of say health care and the like and replacing it with a much more financially viable alternative.

Just my thoughts. Enjoy these blasts from 1994.

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[rar9518]

What Buchanan said in the beginning sounds eerily similar to what's been said for the past few months about Obama.

[grgeliz]

Dana Carvey SNL The McLaughlin Group, hilarious. WRONG!!!!!

[dmreeoogdaq]

Jack Germond, 1994: "They want this government to get out of their lives and spend less money."

[Comicbookfan1970]

Amazing how bright Gingrich's political future seemed to be at this point in time.

[Wrathmont313]

@tubedudeT2000

3:17 - Smile detected.

[tubedudeT2000]

does John ever smile, or have a sense of humor for that matter, what a grouch, must be from denver

[DoBrigh]

17 years later, washington has been cleaned up! thank goodness.

[thebrokenrattle]

How young how Barone looks!

[lmswentzeljr]

@Patriccio72 Thats what I thought myself.

[th3gr8juan]

@ipodlsnr I tend to disagree just a bit. While the Congress did balance the budget, they only did it after the economy expanded. When the economy of the 90s went away, so did the budget surpluses.