"1996, 1996, 1996" rose the chant from a jubilant crowd as Republican Senate leader Bob Dole toasted his party's historic victory in congressional and state elections.
"Yeah, 1996," Dole replied laconically, signaling the unofficial start of the 1996 presidential campaign.Republicans were celebrating winning a majority in both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years Tuesday.
But, as the shouts from their victory party indicated, their joy will not be complete as long as President Clinton or any Democrat remains in the White House.
"You're going to see a lot of people who figure that job is going to be open, that last night people rejected Bill Clinton's policies. Two years from last night, in my opinion, they're going to reject Bill Clinton," said Texas Republican Sen. Phil Gramm, who has been planning his own presidential bid for months.
Gramm already has designers working on the logo for his campaign. He and other leading Republicans may wait until early next year to officially announce their bids, but they are already rushing around the country, trying to raise the $30 million to $40 million needed to finance a serious campaign.
For the record, the New Hampshire primary - the first of the next presidential cycle - is set for Feb. 20, 1996.
Clinton's midterm calamity might also attract some Democrats to challenge the president in the primaries, although it is difficult to see who at the moment.
Nevertheless, even a long-shot challenge to a sitting president from within his own party can fatally weaken him. Former president George Bush discovered this in 1992, when his re-election bid was badly damaged by the upstart campaign of Pat Buchanan, an ultra-conservative columnist.
The two unknowns of 1996 are Texas billionaire Ross Perot, whose independent bid helped throw the 1992 election to Clinton, and Colin Powell, the all-American hero who as the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff oversaw the U.S.-led military victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
Perot says he doesn't want to run again and won't unless the Republicans fail to deliver the changes he wants to see. As for Powell, nobody even knows if he is a Democrat or a Republican, much less whether he has presidential aspirations.
The main action will be on the Republican side where a herd of hopefuls, some familiar faces and some virtually unknown to most Americans, are preparing to try their luck.
The front-runner now is Dole but his age, 71, and abrasive image hurt him. In trial polls, Clinton usually beats him.
Gramm represents the fiscally conservative right of the party and is a formidable fund-raiser and organizer. But in a recent Reuter interview, he said he was not sure if someone as conservative as he could win the presidency.
Former Vice President Dan Quayle is also expected to run and may win support from the powerful Christian right. But he will have to fight his image as an intellectual lightweight.
Other prospects include ex-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, who strikes some as low-keyed to the point of dullness, and former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp, who alienated much of California by defending the rights of illegal immigrants.
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, in what is left of the moderate wing of the Republican Party, plans to announce he is forming an exploratory committee next week to see if he has the backing for a longshot bid.
Others whose names get mention include New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, who became a Republican star by cutting taxes; California Gov. Pete Wilson, who con-found-ed experts by winning re-election Tuesday; and California Rep. Bob Dornan, an outspoken opponent of abortion and homosexuality.
Faced with this list, some party members are less than thrilled. "Not very inspiring," said Shirley Johnson, a Republican member of the Michigan state legislature.
Republican insiders say one man to watch may be former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who is trying to present himself as a fresh face with fresh ideas.