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POD: GOP does not shut down governments, hence causing Clinton some more trouble in the general election.

Note: For General and Senate, the color scheme is Blue: GOP, Red: Dem, while for the House, it is the other way around.

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After the GOP revolution of 1994, things were not looking bright for Clinton. The Republicans were looking forward to unseat the current president. It looked like things would be a toss-up, as Clinton had the advantages of being president under a good economy. After the 1996 primaries ended, GOP nominee Bob Dole chose former HUD secretary Jack Kemp to be his running mate. Clinton, in an attempt to appeal to moderates and Republicans, began passing bills such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA), much to the dismay of Liberals. However, Clinton also passed bills that raised the minumum wage and expanded health insurance, which were seen as ok to Liberals in the Democratic Party. Polls shown Clinton leading Bob Dole, which made the Dole Campaign try to go on the offensive. With Atwater dead, the Dole campaign hired Karl Rove, who worked on the Bush Gubernatorial campaign of 1994, Bush's congressional campaigns of 1978 and 1980, and the 1984 Reagan Presidential campaign.
Rove began an extremely negative campaign, focusing on Whitewater and Clinton's many scandals. When October came, it appeared that the race was a toss-up. However, they were two October surprises, both which benefited both candidates. The first one was with Dole appearing dizzy during a debate, which caused concerns of his ability to serve as president. The second was a big one, one which had to do with Clinton's affairs. It turned out that Clinton was having an affair with White house intern Monica Lewinsky. At first, Clinton denied it. But a day later he realized that that was a huge mistake and admitted to it. That hurt his campaign numbers, and the Clinton campaign went under damage control. Clinton then began attacking Dole on child smoking and his age. Clinton also emphasized the
good economy. Clinton was also pretty popular amongst young and black voters. This was enough for the race to return to being a toss-up. Perot also made a late entry around October 15th, but no one expected him to make a big difference. The Dole campaign was determined to make sure that the American people vote for Bob Dole. So they kept dragging on Clinton's affairs and Whitewater and make sure that it makes the American people vote for Dole. Rove attack Clinton on his affairs, and the fact that he lied about it, and the fact that he changed because of the
fact that an election is taking place. These attacks seem to stick, and when election day came, Dole had won by a hair, maybe 2, ok, he won by 4%.




When Rove was not busy focusing on the General election, he was focusing on down-ballot, and hoped that the GOP can expand it's majorities in the Senate. He began putting out ads urging Republicans not just to vote for Dole/Kemp, but to also vote for the state's senate candidate for the GOP. It proved effective, with the GOP winning 5 seats.


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The GOP also expanded in the house, which, ITTL, didn't shut down government after government, that, and turnout was low, with mostly Republicans voting. This led to the GOP gaining 11 seats. Gephardt would later resign as leader.



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