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Maybe we should call it Newt’s Revenge: Colin Powell announcing the day after the 1995 elections in no uncertain terms that he is Republican and that his future lies with the Republican party. From his new party’s point of view, Powell’s timing was perfect. It dissipated most of the talk of the electoral results, and truth to tell, the GOP was delighted to change the subject.

Republican expectations for 1995 were sky-high. Although the number of races in this off-year wasn’t significant, or the races all that interesting, Republicans were hoping for and even expecting results that would establish 1995 as a continuation of 1994’s Slaughter of the Democrats. As the Kentucky governor’s race goes, so goes the nation: Realignment, ho!

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View this article at The Weekly Standard

WITH LITTLE FANFARE, THE WHITE HOUSE, in the person of Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, took another step in the direction of the GOP budget last week. He allowed as how a budget package offered by conservative House Democrats — the 20-odd group that has dubbed itself the Blue Dog Coalition — might form the basis for negotiations on a final package with Republicans.

It’s an interesting adventure in Budgetville. Not that anyone paid much attention, but for a couple of hours before the Republican budget bill passed the House on Oct. 26, there actually was a serious budget debate on the floor between full-blown competing alternatives.

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