Word: republicans
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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That job fell to Dale Bumpers, the four-term, just-retired Arkansas Senator who would come to the chamber to play the coda. The idea for his appearance, in fact, sprang from the Senate floor. Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin was troubled by how the Republican managers were like next-door neighbors who knew how to talk across the fence--even to Democrats. At the defense table, however, sat a bunch of strangers...
...combined defense arguments were compelling enough to trigger some quick shifting of strategy on both sides of the aisle. The clever Democratic ploy of enlisting West Virginia's Robert Byrd to offer a motion to dismiss "was a bombshell," as a Republican Senator put it. Any list of possible Democratic defectors always had Byrd's name at the top. "If Byrd is now offering a vote to dismiss, conviction really is dead...
...then the Democrats were worrying about such luxuries as appearing graceful in the victory they now expect. The White House was careful not to start the victory dance; advisers were put on "gloat patrol" to avoid annoying wavering Republicans. Clinton, having again asserted his mastery of his craft, cannot be seen celebrating dismissal or acquittal in a trial that has left so much blood on the floor. "It is not our purpose to embarrass the Republican leadership," said New Jersey's Robert Torricelli. The only way out is a careful one. "This is a dance that everyone must do together...
...MICHIGAN Last February former Republican Governor William Milliken called the "650 Lifer Law" his biggest mistake. The 1978 law mandated a life-without-parole term for possession with intent to deliver at least 650 g (about 1.4 lbs.) of heroin or cocaine. But though the law was intended to net big fish, few major dealers got hit. In fact, 86% of the "650 lifers" had never done time; 70% were poor. "A lot of them were young people who made very stupid mistakes but shouldn't have to pay for it for the rest of their lives," says state representative...
...UTAH In March 1995, Republican senate president Lane Beattie, concerned about the excesses of mandatory minimums, introduced a bill to eliminate them in certain cases. Worried about the political fallout, he did so near midnight on the last day of the legislative session. The bill passed quietly, without debate, but victims' groups noticed. Though a public outcry followed, the G.O.P. Governor said he agreed with the bill and refused to veto...