Nov. 17-21 conference in the Crescent City was an uncharacteristically sober affair. For five days, Republican governors and governors-elect candidly assessed the reasons for their party's embarrassing setbacks in the 1998 elections. And if the party is to bounce back in 2000, it's becoming clear that the impressive crop of governors will have to lead the way. There are plenty of good reasons why the national GOP officials and congressional bosses should ask the governors to take center stage. On Election Day '98, most Americans thought that Capitol Hill Republicans stood for sex scandals, partisan bickering, and a Do-Nothing Congress.
Congressional leaders posture for political benefit.
Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating convinced an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to enact tort reform. Montana Governor Marc Racicot reformed his state's failing workers' comp system by reaching out to Democrats and even organized labor. For four years, Gingrich and Bob Dole have been the scowling face of Washington Republicans. This group of Republican governors is unusually smart, surprisingly well-informed on a wide range of issues, and serious about solving problems. But national GOP powerbrokers all too often seem to think that they're the oracles on the Potomac.