The Cook Political Report: January 30, 1998

The Monica Lewinsky situation has created a significant level of political volatility and has led many to wonder what impact, if any, it will have on the 1998 mid-term elections. At this point, it is impossible to speculate on the situation's importance because the political environment remains so fluid. As we have seen over the past several weeks, there have been many peaks and valleys in the events that have Eanspired and it seems certain that there are more to come. Before the Lewinsky story broke, it seemed almost certain that this would be a status quo election. Few changes were likely in the House of Representatives, resulting in a very high re election rate for incumbents, while Republicans were looking at making moderate gains in the Senate and in gubernatorial races.