European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes saturday november 10,1990 columns William Safire gop s minimal loss can be called a Victory the Only time Richard Nixon quoted Walter Lipp a a Quot. A her the of 197b in which the republics nine House seats. Mann not his favorite pundit was the Day after the midterm elections of 197b in which the republicans lost Walter Lippmann said that according to the rules of a a a has been played for the past 50 years a said the president Reading from cording the political game As it has been played in this country the past 50 _. _ when the party n Power loses Little if anything in an off year election it has to be called a  history has repeated itself. The party in Power in the White House has just lost nine House seats in the midterm election not the usual 36. Therefore according to the Lippmann Rule president Bush has the right to Call the 1990 results a Victory. But just let him try it. The mind set that drives most interpretations of the results envisions a wounded politician in the White House coattails in tatters and inflated ratings plummeting his plums ripening for plucking in 1992. Having taken credit for the rain Bush is now getting blamed for the drought. Clear your mind set. For a Man about to be the first to occupy the White House during a wartime recession George Bush is in pretty Good shape. In Nis defining Domestic moment he stripped his party of its philosophy by caving in on his tax pledge a but disaster did not befall republicans. In pressing the advantage handed them by desperation Darman democratic liberals reverted to the soaks a but their retreaded Oil. In retrospect Bush might wish he had stuck to his guns and fought this election on a taxing versus spending theme. Most returns show voter displeasure aimed More at increased taxes than Unin creased services. But let s keep our Sextant fixed on Lippmann a guiding Star massive erosion averted is midterm Victory. Another Krueler adage buttresses this Wisdom which i Hope some pundit a generation hence will refer to As the Safi re Rule of relative positioning no politician is safely a Success until All his potential opponents Are failures. Consider the state of the �?T92 opposition in Light of the �?T90 results. With his Campaign coffers overflowing Mario Cuomo who in his previous Campaign won Over 65 percent of the votes for governor of new York this time eked out a Bare majority Over a couple of relatively impoverished opponents. The much derided Republican Pierre Rinfret stunned his scoffers by receiving twice As Many votes As the pollsters predicted. The dismal Cuomo showing has forced the governors National boosters to eat Humble pie with melancholy Ellen Goodman the Rich pitch of their glory Day fairness Issue led to no Day of pfc danish. Equally heavily financed Bill Bradley his aim fixed on the presidential nomination took his Eye off the tax cutting Ball and dribbled away a big Lead in new Jersey against an unknown. His Dis enthralled supporters say wryly he can no longer depend on a charismatic oratorical style alone. Sen. A1 Gore won handily in Tennessee. But the Issue he is counting on to catapult him to the nomination is global warming a and environmentalists lost their a big Green push in California by 2 to 1, which greens everywhere consider a Polit ecological disaster. However if its 90 degrees in the Shade in new York on new years Day a keep your Eye on Gore those eager to proclaim the president damaged in this election should turn to a Lincoln adage you cannot beat somebody with nobody. This election May have diminished the somebody but it has surely slammed around the  you Are unsatisfied with the no not losing badly is really winning. Surely to notion that. _. You cannot prefer drawing such lessons As a nobody won _ body  does the Campaign result have any meaning. Yes. Remember How the reformist goo goos were bewailing the Way incumbents could use Perks and packs to keep themselves entrenched they were right. And remember How All the pollsters and analyst Fere telling us How fed up the voters were with the budget messiness they were right too. The inertial Power of incumbency is still the immovable object. Resentment of deadlocking and secretive and Promise breaking politicians is the irresistible Force. In the Campaign of 1990, they met. Result the Little loss by the party m Power has to be called a Victory c new Yori it time women politicians breaking Glass ceiling on the morning after the night be fore an assortment of politics analysts came out red eyed and bleary to Check the condition of the portrait they had drawn. This was the season they had entitled a the year of the woman. In 1990, they said More women were running for office than Ever before. In 1990, a their issues would be hot. In 1990, a their votes would count. In the Early Light the big picture was still littered with undigested data with Jender issues and gaps with women candidates and voters. The postelection image was a bit a More complicated than the simple strokes that had been made earlier. But a pretty interesting portrait was emerging. How did women do As candidates looking at the top of the ticket Wendy Sherman the executive director of entity s list a women a fund raising outfit said a we Haven to exactly shattered the Glass ceiling. But we pc thrown a few sizable boulders through  the most sizable boulders were the three women who made it into the governor s mansions Ann Richards of Texas Barbara Roberts of Oregon and Joan Finney of Kansas. The Richards Victory was especially Sweet. After a brutal and battering Texas style Campaign she beat the Bubba and his Bank account and did it with the votes of women. The women a vote went for her 61 percent to 39 percent with a gender Gap As big As the state. On the other hand Dianne Feinstein even in defeat came within a whisker a 100,000 votes out of 7 million a of being governor of California. And most of the women who ran and lost for the Senate against incumbents proved they were serious contenders instead of sacrificial lambs. But the news is in what sportscasters like to Call Quot the  As Sherman says a a we re beyond the tokens and beyond a the remarkable woman who Breaks through the pack. Its not like there Are five women out there and that Sall we be got. The Field is very  this year 85 women ran for statewide offices. Of these 51 women won. There were so Many women running for lieutenant governor a 19 in All a that the races sometimes looked like the evening news Anchor team. In five states coed teams ran against each other. There Are now six women lieutenant governors 10 secretaries of state three attorneys general and 12 women in charge of the coffers As state treasurers. The Long slow process of waiting and running the Stop and Start of politics has begun to work in women a favor. When the openings come women Are in the pipeline. _ at the same time the old arguments used against women seem to have lost some of their clout. Ten years ago the very word a a competence was a synonym for male. A the concern about whether women could do the Job a says political analyst Ethel Klein a seems pretty much  in fact says Klein optimistically a the voters Are More than Happy to have women run. Corruption and honesty Are much More salient issues. And there is an added Edge that women have about honesty and hard  a a leadership is still sometimes used As a code word to help male candidates especially in races that hinge on the so called a Macho issues Quot of War and foreign policy. But that too seems to be losing its certainty. Even a a Money is gradually changing hands. Few women candidates raised As much As their male opponents but they Are finally getting serious Money. The most visible like Richards and Femste Iri broke the gender record for donor dollars. As for the year of the woman As voter women a votes made the difference not Only for Ann Richards but also for Barbara Roberts and a number of men including the new progressive senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. In Massachusetts in the last week of the governors race women seemed to Lead the undecided Awa from John Silber to help Bill Weld squeak to Victory. The picture for 1990, then was not exactly a revolutionary poster. A the year of the woman collided with another a year of the  when the sentiment is toss Mem All out but mine seat holders have a powerful Edge and most of them Are male. So the Senate next year will have Only two women out of 100. The House will have Only 26 women out of 435, and there will still be Only three women in the governors Job. But if you re looking for the boulders keep your eyes on the ranks. There Are a lot of women aiming for the Glass ceiling. C Boston Globe newspaper company the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons of this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government