On the contract
Right, and the contract came out less than two months before the election.
In the spring of 1994, the GOP was talking about why they were _against_ the Clinton health plan, _against_ various other Clinton initiatives, and _against_ the corruption of Congressional Dems. 1994 was the apex of negative campaigning.
GOP analysts see one of their key strategic moves in early 1994 as not playing ball with Clinton and coming out with alternative health plans or moving towards compromise, but simply standing back and shouting, "NO". Not that all Republicans were on board, but that tactic (pushed by Bill Kristol) eventually became the majority approach and seemed to work pretty effctively.