Steven Gillon's The Pact

Introduction
The results of the 1994 United States midterm election shocked the political system in the United States. The power in the House of Representatives had not reverted from Democratic dominance since 1952.1 As the clear winners of the 1994 elections, the Republican Party, had lofty goals after winning back the control of the legislative branch after 40 years. As the new majority party, the Republicans used this victory as a platform to reinforce their “Contract with America” ideology.2 Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said a day after the election that the Republican success was based on “voters embracing Republican ideas of smaller governments, lower taxes and more individual freedom and personal responsibility.”3
After receiving control, Gingrich immediately began a campaign of creating appropriate language for Republican candidates to use against their Democrat oppponents. In Steven Gillon’s, The Pact, that he observed that “Using GOPAC as a recruitment and training organization, Gingrich spent more than $8 Million identifying the strongest potential Republican challengers and providing them with the themes, the ‘wedges and magnets’ to use against their Democratic opponents.”15 Using GOPAC as a research and promotion center, Gingrich created a stream lined message that polled well in voting focus groups, and gave them the fire power that would ultimately help them unseat the Democratic incumbents.16 Gillion pressed the point that Gingrich stressed public unity above all else including using Congress as a platform. In early fall, Republicans began a strategy of full obstruction of all President Clinton’s legislation.17 The LA Times described the strategy used by the Republicans just before the election. The author of the article, Paul Richter, used Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole’s excessive use of Filibustering as an example. Richter stated that Bob Dole employed “the
From George Wallace to Newt Gingrich Race in the Conservative Counterrevolution, 1963-1994. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996.
Critchlow, Donald. The Conservative Ascendancy: HHow the Republican Right Rose to Power in Modern America. 2nd ed. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2011.
Gillon, Steven M. The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
McSweeney, Dean. The Republican Takeover of Congress. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press ;, 1998.
Primary
Berke, Richard . "Democrats Fear That South Will Desert Them for G.O.P in House Races." The New York Times, May 21, 1994.
Clymer, Adam. "The 1994 Elections: Congress the Overview." New York Times. (Nov, 9 1994): n. page. Print. "Midterm Election Campaign Ads." C-Span Nov 07 1994. web, http://www.c-span.org/video/?61371-1/midterm-elections-campaign-ads.
Gingrich, Newt, and Richard Armey. Republican National Party. Contract with America. Washington D.C.: Sept, 24 1994.