target _blank replacement…

Hi, I am using a javascript target _blank replacement solution I found here:
https://www.serve.com/apg/workshop/replacingTarget/
I know I shouldn’t bother and let the depricated tag depricate… but I just learned that it is depricated and there are a few target _blank tags throughout the site… nothing a little find and replace can’t handle though…
It uses javascript and a css class to replace the target _blank.
So I was wondering if there is a way I can apply a style to the anchor link tag in the wordpress links. I can add styles to the

element by wrapping the get_links_list with a properly styled div but I haven’t been successful trying to do the same with styles for anchor tags generated by the get_links_list. I need to apply the style to the anchor tag in the link for the javascript to work and open up windows in a new browser. Ultimately I need a link to have the xhtml something like this

< a href ="someurl.com" class="external">some url</ a>

the css…

a.external {
background: url(../images/design/targetBlank.gif) left no-repeat;
padding-left: 27px;
vertical-align: top;
}

Thanks