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Morris' first masterstroke came in June 1995, when he nudged Clinton to embrace the G.O.P. idea of a balanced budget within a fixed period of time, which succeeded in getting him back into the debate that was defining Washington. But as the budget battle heated up and congressional Republicans moved toward their "train wreck" strategy of ramming a G.O.P. budget down Clinton's throat by threatening to shut down the government, Morris believed Clinton had to get a deal no matter what--it was the key to his re-election. Last fall, Time has learned, when the Gingrich Congress was going after Medicare, Morris urged Clinton to agree to a proposed increase in premiums paid by Medicare recipients. It was a responsible policy position--middle-class entitlements are devouring the budget--but Clinton didn't take it. Instead he cast the G.O.P. as granny-bashing extremists and saw his popularity soar as the government closed and Gingrich took the blame. Morris got credit for that strategy, though its chief architect was George Stephanopoulos.
Morris' outstanding achievement has been to help his client re-create his image through "triangulation"--standing between and even above the two parties by embracing issues that lie "outside the box" of traditional two-party politics. Many of them dovetail with the family-values agenda that conservative Republicans have long counted as their own. In 1992, when Vice President Dan Quayle began working this territory, Clinton called it divisive. But Morris has been drawing on these ideas since at least 1990, when he first worked for Senator Coats, a conservative protege of Quayle's. Morris tried to get Coats to take on the same kinds of issues Clinton is talking about now, which had been considered beyond the realm of presidential concern: school uniforms and youth curfews; TV violence and teen smoking. Other Clinton ideas--like using tax credits to encourage responsible behavior--were picked up from Coats.
Clinton's message has resonated with young, middle-American parents who are worrying about how to raise their kids inside an amoral culture. Using presidential symbolism, Executive actions and old-fashioned exhortation, the Morris-driven campaign has pulled 10% of Republican-leaning voters into the Clinton camp--enough to make Morris talk about "the geology of the New Clinton Majority." Says former Clinton strategist Carville: "Morris is running a different campaign than I would. He thinks the way to go is to trivialize big issues and harp on small stuff. I think that's stupid, but you notice who's running things."