Have a worse Lewinsky scandal that causes Hillary to divorce Bill Clinton, Monica to get pregnant, Bill Clinton forced to resign just before the 1998 midterms, and the Democrats suffering substantial losses in 1998. Given the DLC control of the party and their opportunistic ideological flexibility, they try to rebrand the party in a more socially conservative direction to win back white social conservatives.
Al Gore goes back to leaning pro-life and moderating his views on guns, while also quietly throwing the LGBT cause under the bus. He also makes a point of being photographed at church regularly and meets with leaders like Jesse Jackson and Frank Griswold, and this helps him win a close election against Bush. He wins states like West Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas, while only losing Oregon and New Hampshire as per OTL. 9/11 breaks out and the Democrats join Republicans in the mass hysteria against radical Islam, causing Democrats to do better among the evangelical, nationalist conservatives. While not a majority, winning around 40% of this demographic causes growth of the pro-life faction in the party. It also helps Democrats solidify the Latino vote and do even better among black voters by winning over evangelicals.
I think Democrats would gain in the South and Southwest, while losing ground in the Northeast politically. New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, Virginia, and Colorado are likely to be lean Republican states due to Democrats not appealing to social liberals in these states, while they hold on in Appalachia and the Deep South. Florida remains a tossup and Texas could very well become a tossup as well due to higher Democratic appeal to white evangelicals and Latinos.