President Clinton and newly empowered Republican leaders talked of bipartisanship Wednesday in the wake of stunning election results that ended decades of Democratic control of Congress.
Clinton spoke by telephone with Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who is expected to become the new speaker of the House."The president made it clear that he would extend a hand, that he wants to work with the Republican leaders and the Republicans in Congress," White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers said.
"He will work with whomever will work with him. The future of the American people is what's at stake."
Dole, virtually certain to become Senate majority leader, told the president by phone: "I wanted to let you know right up front that we want to work together where we can."
The two briefly discussed their first test of bipartisanship, ratification of the GATT world trade pact, which comes up later this month as the final gasp of the current Congress.
In Georgia, Gingrich told reporters, "I don't think we'll go in and tackle things that guarantee a fight" with the president. But he called for swift action in the first 90 days of the new Congress, which begins in January.
The Democrats, stunned Tuesday, were dealt a further blow Wednesday when Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama announced he was jumping to the Republican ranks, boosting the new Republican majority to 53-47 in the Senate that will take office in January.
"It was a general recognition that people were angry and wanted more change than we were able to implement over the last two years," said White House chief of staff Leon Panetta.
Voters "were basically striking out to try to see if something different can happen here in Washington," said Panetta, a former California congressman brought in to improve operations at a troubled White House.
White House officials insisted the outcome was no reflection on Clinton and his policies but merely an indication of voter demands for change.
But Republican strategist William Kristol, who was chief of staff to former Vice President Dan Quayle, bragged that Democrats had "dominated U.S. politics for 60 years. Bill Clinton in two years has succeeded in helping crumble that Democratic dominance."