In 1980, Ronald Reagan led the ticket with massive coattails. In the House the Demonrats still led; however the Republicans went from 1509 seats to 1193 seats. The Senate went from 41 to 53 Republicans, a gain of 12. This lead was not to last.
Bob Dole pushed the “Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982” into law. At the time, it was the biggest tax hike ever. It led Newt Gingrich to dub Dole “the tax collector for the welfare state”. As a result, the Demonrats picked up 269 seats in the House to the Republicans 165.
In 1984, Bob Dole didn’t pass a tax law, and 181 House Republicans were elected.
In 1984, despite Bob Dole’s worst efforts, the Republicans retained a majority in the U.S. Senate. As the new majority leader of the Senate, Bob Dole pushed for “The Tax Reform Act of 1986”. This was, once again, the biggest tax hike in history, and passed 22 October 1986. Thirteen days later, the Demonrats, led by the Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan took 8 Senate seats from Bob Dole’s tax and spend Republicans, as the Republicans dropped from 53 to 45 seats.
Bob Dole - I grieve for his family. He was a disaster on the national scene.
That’s from 159 to 193 seats. Keyboard stutter.
The party in power almost always loses seats in the midterms. Spending wasn’t really cut in the Eighties (though it may have grown slower), so there was probably going to be a tax increase. Sure, Dole could have done things differently, but critics assume that he had more leeway than he did.