UNITED STATES-POLITICS: "Anywhere but America"

WASHINGTON, Nov 09 (IPS) - The Democratic administration, reeling from a stinging electoral setback, pondered the course of the Bill Clinton presidency Wednesday, with analysts expecting a shift in focus from domestic to foreign policy concerns.

In the aftermath of the debacle suffered by Democratic candidates in Tuesday's mid-term elections, analysts forecast busy times ahead for Air Force One, the presidential jet.

Preliminary results showed that in contests for the National Legislature - the Senate and House of Representatives - and in state elections for Governors, President Clinton's Democratic party had suffered a severe mauling.

A Republican majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives appeared certain - meaning that a president elected on the strength of his promise to focus on domestic issues will be hobbled by legislative hostility to his agenda.

Election-night analysts were almost unanimous in their prediction of the course Clinton is likely to adopt: re-focus his presidency around foreign-policy tours and "bold" actions which add to the presidential aura.

"We will make the case that we put the economy on the road to long-term recovery and now we will work in making government more effective and work on other things," the Washington Post quoted one White House official as saying.

That translates into a hectic schedule of overseas engagements, and a deliberate effort to avoid dealing with Congress as the White House focuses on Clinton's re-election in 1996.

Already a visit to Haiti is being planned, and Clinton is also considering a trip to Budapest. In December he will meet Latin American leaders at a summit in Miami, Florida.

That prescription for the final two years of the Clinton presidency is an ironic shift. In 1992, Democrats had taunted "Anywhere but America" at former President George Bush to reinforce claims that he was too concerned with foreign policy issues, and not sufficiently focussed on local problems, especially the economy.

Tuesday's election results gives control of both houses of Congress to the Republicans for the first time in four decades, according to the preliminary results.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service