DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: "CNN 20" today: the "Contract with America" was signed.</s>ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the world for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The "Contract with America" was a Republican agenda, an agenda to take over Congress and then a program that the Republicans said that they would try and put in place if they took over Congress. Congress had been in the House of Representatives under the control of the Democrats for 40 years, and the Senate had gone back and forth but it was currently under Democratic control with a Democratic White House. Newt Gingrich was really the spiritual leader and the person behind all of this, and they held their rally to introduce this program, which was really boilerplate Republican legislation. It was actually a compilation of ideas that had been developed by polls. Frank Luntz, who was a pollster, had put together this document. And after they got elected, it became the format for their first 100 days in office. And week after week, they would work on passing various parts of this "Contract with America. They passed most of them, but most of them didn't make it past the Senate or were vetoed by President Clinton. But it was a symbolic act and it gave them the underpinnings of the Congress once they elected it, and suddenly looked at each other and said, now what do we do? They had something to do, and that was the "Contract with America."
CNN 20: 'Contract With America' Signing, September 27, 1994