On the other hand, the split between Bush and Perot in ‘92 may have given us Clinton but also gave us a Republican controlled Congress in ‘94, which gave us a budget surplus and welfare reform.
That may be why we got the GOP congress in 1994. But —
1) There were other reasons why. The “Contract With America” was a masterstroke of content-rich politicking, led by Newt before Newt made some mistakes and became a political liability. Who can predict whether we’d have a comparable spearhead in 2010?
2) In even 2 years, Stevens and Ginsburg likely will have retired, knowing a lib pres and Dem-Senate are in office. Their successors will serve 40+ years. (PLEASE remember this if you remember nothing else I type: BREYER AND GINSBURG WERE SEATED DURING CLINTON’S FIRST TWO YEARS IN OFFICE, in 1993 and 1994.) Recapturing part of the government 2-4 years later won’t undo that damage.
3) Gosh knows what HillObama will do in foreign/defense policy in 2 years (or fail to do), with a Dem Congress.
I’m just not prepared to take those chances on a HOPE for a “1994”-type comeback.