LOSING an election is never pleasant. And John Bruton showed such uninhibited pleasure when he occupied the top political slot in the State that he will certainly suffer withdrawal symptoms. But the political sun shines brightly for Fine Gael - the party that was in dangerous decline three years ago in the aftermath of this election. Civil war politics has become a thing of the past. But the two major parties spawned by that conflict are in the process of reinventing themselves for the new millennium.
The outgoing Taoiseach said as much yesterday. Recognising the near inevitability of Bertie Ahern forming the next government, Mr Bruton spread the broad cloak of Rainbow policies over Fine Gael and made its caring ethos the basis for his future electoral strategy.
With breathtaking cool, Mr Bruton reached for Labour Party and Democratic Left elements of social policy and made them his own. Fine Gael was back on song as the party of the Just Society. The days of wooing the "coping classes" are over and if that makes the party centre left, John Bruton can live with it.
Fine Gael won seats in the general election because it had substantially broadened its base of appeal as a party" and he promised, it would make future gains on that basis.
Success rarely Just happens in politics, it has to be carefully planned for and orchestrated as happened on this occasion. Vote management and candidate strategy was devised by an internal committee headed by the party's director of elections, Mark FitzGerald. The group included Jim Miley, the party's general secretary; Roy Dooney, adviser to Mr Bruton; Maurice Manning, party leader in the Seanad and Terry Murphy, director of organisation.
Presentation of policy and Mr Bruton's strategy in the crucial television debate were influenced by Shane Kenny, the Government Press Secretary, and by Niall O Muilleoir, the party's press officer. In the aftermath of the election, Mr Bruton's political message should give goose bumps to the Labour Party and Democratic Left, whose political clothes are being purloined by the larger party. If Fine Gael is going to spread itself on the centre left spectrum, where does that leave the two social democratic parties? What niche market can they exploit? Will they have to adopt more forceful, left wing policies? And what implications will that have for a not too distant future coalition arrangement with Fine Gael? The Labour Party has been here before, in a succession of post mortems following the passing of coalition and inter party governments. On this occasion, however, the issue of coalition as a point of political fracture does not arise. All parties now accept that the days of single party rule are over.
What is at issue is the individuality of party policy and the projection of party image.
The outgoing Government's historically high satisfaction rating of 57 per cent clearly rubbed off on Fine Gael in the last of the election campaign. And it left the Labour Party and Democratic Left stranded. Media attention was focused almost entirely on John Bruton and Bertie Ahern in their jousts. And the resulting surge in support brought seats to Fine Gael and left Mr Bruton in undisputed control of his party.
Losing an election normally triggers a leadership change or challenge within Fine Gael. And the parliamentary party rules will require Mr Bruton to offer himself for reelection within weeks of the formation of the new government.
The outcome is, however, a foregone conclusion. After the resurgence in Fine Gael's fortunes at the polls and the recovery of seven seats, Mr Bruton's authority has taken on a Teflon quality. His two and a half years as Taoiseach have added immeasurable to his political stature and his television drubbing of Mr Ahern has given party members a warm feeling.
The election may have been lost, but it was no rout. The Fianna Fail Taoiseach in waiting now has the task of creating a stable government out of a mix of Independents and a badly damaged Progressive Democrats party. Dail pressures will be intense as the PDs, in particular, seek to refashion the party's political fortunes and protect its individual image.
Fine Gael is well placed to exploit the situation. The threat the PDs posed to its middle class urban support base has been practically negatived by Fianna Fail. It has seen off the Labour Party's challenge. It has a new, attractive message of social caring for the electorate. It has pushed up its national vote by 4 per cent.
John Bruton has many reasons to be pleased.