But voters may prove less sanguine if the budget battle drags on. Should that happen, the G.O.P.'s much vaunted fiscal revolution could end with a whimper around Christmas. Under this scenario, after a period of negotiation to create the illusion of goodwill, both parties will implicitly agree to put the budget on hold until after the '96 election. Clinton and the Democrats will then hit the campaign trail, saying they too want a balanced budget, but not if the price is throwing seniors overboard to pay off the rich. Dole, meanwhile, can assail the Democrats as fuzzy-headed obstructionists.
Polls already make the case for the Democratic strategy.
The G.O.P.'s duality of Medicare reductions for middle America and tax cuts for the rich has the makings of a political mess,'' says political seer Kevin Phillips. Those are the kinds of numbers that may convince Clinton to stand firm against the G.O.P.'s revolutionary agenda for a long time to come. Time Inc. All rights reserved.