While the anti-incumbent mood is very evident, a second factor that developed around the beginning of October has threatened to shift thedynamics of the 1990 campaign once again fundamentally. Beginning with the collapse of the budget compromise and compounded by the President's tour-de-force of positions on income tax rates for higher-income individuals, the President's job approval ratings plunged, the national mood soured even further and correspondingly, support for many Republican candidates nationally took a dive.

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