And I'm more than happy to do it again. The one problem is that if Clinton keeps the Republicans in Washington, the Democrats have to stay, too. By all accounts, they'd rather be running. They have been raising money and building a case for the ineffectiveness of the GOP majority. A legislative accomplishment is not a legislative accomplishment until it becomes law.
Political fodder is something of an entirely different order, however.
For now, though, the real push for Republicans and Democrats is to get out of town. The Republicans want to conclude the necessary business of the Congress without doing harm to the prospects of their presidential nominee, or themselves. Many look at the polls and see a coming season of White House bill signings during which a President George W. Bush ratifies one Republican tax-cut law after another. Nurturing hopes of their own, Democrats think Republicans are misreading the political climate and will be punished for doing less than voters expect. Winning in November has become the single guiding light on the Hill.