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WI: Newt Gingrich primaried in 1992?

Tamar

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He was also nearly defeated in the 1990 general election.

Honestly what happened to the GOP was a generational thing. I know Gingrich has gone down as some unique animating genius but there was a wider sea-change going on in the Congressional GOP. Gingrich was actually one of the most trusted right-wing figures in this process by moderates. This isn't as clear-cut as people make out nowadays. There was a lot of frustration amongst even New England Moderate/Liberal Republicans about being in a permanent minority in which the Democrats always set the rules.

The Congressional GOP would have a different performance under Dick Armey or the like but the change would still happen.
 
To be more specific, I think the transition from the Permanent Minority generation to the right-wing Boomers can be flattened and made smoother than OTL, but you need more going on than Gingrich being chucked.

Dukakis winning in 1988 would probably be the most 'helpful' factor here. Even if Minority Leader Michel and Minority Whip Cheney don't win the House in 1990 they could gain enough seats to make a majority look a lot more possible than it seemed IOTL - even in 1994 OTL a lot of people were dubious about the Republicans taking over the House. If the Republicans make significant gains in 1990 then a majority after the 1990 redistricting looks realistic, and the desire for an activist takeover to get the party in congress moving would diminish.
 
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