President George Bush repaired to the White House to wait for payback on his 60% approval rating and his deep personal investment in the most competitive mid-term elections for half a century.
After casting his vote at a fire station near his Texas ranch at the end of an energetic round of campaign appearances, he returned to Washington, having raised $140-million for his party and visited 17 cities in 15 states in under a week.
He seemed relaxed in jeans and a leather jacket, and accompanied by Laura Bush: he pointed out that they were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
Asked about the Republican Party’s prospects, he seemed to signal that the elections could go either way, giving a thumbs-up then turning the thumb to the side.
But the future of his agenda is at stake in these elections, because a Republican-controlled Senate would presumably approve his plans for a new department of homeland security, an energy package, and a terrorist insurance proposal, among others.
”I hope people vote,” Bush told reporters as he left his local polling station.
”I’m encouraging all people across this country to vote.”
But although yesterday’s elections were seen as the most closely run for 50 years, pollsters have registered new lows in voter interest.
The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate predicted that only a third of eligible voters would turn out to cast their ballots.
With poor weather — there were snow flurries in Minnesota and rain in Georgia — threatening to further depress turnout, voting got under way in an atmosphere of gathering rancour between Democrats and Republicans, and trepidation among pollsters and pundits, who were desperate to avoid their spectacularly wrong predictions in the 2000 elections.
While the Republicans were expected to maintain their narrow majority in the House of Representatives, the broadcasting networks were wary yesterday of predicting the outcome in the Senate, which hinges on close contests in South Dakota, Minnesota, Georgia and Missouri.
The Republicans were also expected to come out as winners in the grudge match between the president’s brother, the Republican Jeb Bush and the Democrat, Bill McBride.
However, Democrats were hoping to gain elsewhere among the 36 gubernatorial races, and so prepare the ground for the 2004 elections: governors are critical soldiers in presidential campaigns.
Bush fundraising round began with an event for his brother in January, and he never thereafter took more than a couple of weeks off the money trail.
His total of $140-million from 67 events obliterated the record set by Bill Clinton.
Vice-President Dick Cheney broke records too with his tally of more than $40m from 70-odd events.
The White House injected itself into the elections at every opportunity, breaking with convention by selecting candidates it thought had the best chance of winning long before Republican voters had a chance to vote in the primary elections.
Sometimes the tactic backfired: Republicans in California rejected the White House choice of the former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan in favour of a political novice, Bill Simon, in the gubernatorial primary.
Although he entered office promising to ”change the tone” in Washington, Bush’s campaign message was harshly critical of the Democratic-run Senate.
It had done a ”lousy” job in approving his judges, for example, he said.
Before a single vote was counted the White House pre-emptively set low expectations, pointing out that the president’s party generally loses an average of 30 House seats in midterm elections.
At the same time it paved the way for the administration to take credit if the Republicans hold their ground or make gains, which is what the White House expects. – Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001