1.   This outcome left both sides claiming victory.

2.   But a more likely outcome would leave the president holding the high political ground and claiming, with some justification, that Democratic scalpels gutted hopes of passage.

3.   But the outcome left no doubt as to who was championship material on the West Coast and who was tourney filler.

4.   For Carl Magmus Hellsten and Johan Nygren, the outcome left them proud if disappointed.

5.   Indeed, the outcome left parties on both sides dumbfounded.

6.   That equivocal outcome left many political leaders, including President Clinton, initially uncertain on how to respond.

7.   The outcome leaves a deeply bitter taste.

8.   The outcome left other candidates thinking that they, too, could win over voters that they had been ready to concede to Gramm.

9.   The outcome left Rep. Patty Gray, D-Galveston, author of the Democratic alternative, bitter.