>>Mmmmmm mashed potatoes mmmmmm
Michelle, stop playing with the mashed potato. Everyone else is finished.
Sunday Telegraph October 11, 1998
Democrats tell Clinton to stay out of poll
fight
By David Wastell in Washington
The Briefing Room -
The White House
Impeach Clinton
Now - National
Impeach Clinton
Action Committee
PRESIDENT Clinton has been warned off
campaigning in next month's congressional
elections for fear that his shattered public
image could harm the prospects of fellow
Democrats.
Strategists have advised that although the
President remains the party's most
effective fund-raiser, his presence on the
stump may distract from the messages candidates are trying to get across.
They fear that if he is exposed to questions about the Lewinsky affair it will
dominate local news coverage in the run-up to next month's poll, reminding
voters of a subject most Democrats would rather forget.
Thirty-one Democrats in the House of Representatives broke ranks and voted
with Republicans for a wide-ranging and open-ended impeachment inquiry
after Thursday's historic debate.
As a result Mr Clinton is expected to visit no more than six or seven states
during the three-week campaign, where he will concentrate on raising cash for
candidates. The Democrats are said to be short of cash, the essential
ingredient of any American election campaign.
The President will visit Florida on Tuesday, his first trip outside Washington
since the House of Representatives voted to begin the impeachment inquiry.
He has not appeared at an event which members of the public could attend
without a special invitation, or without making a campaign contribution, since
he admitted on August 17 to an "improper relationship" with Monica
Lewinsky. But he has been to a string of fundraisers for the party, bringing his
total to 92 so far this year.
By sticking to events attended by the Democratic party faithful he has avoided
potentially embarrassing confrontations with hostile voters. Even so, his trips
have begun to generate protest demonstrations which, despite their small
scale, have provided telling pictures for local television news.
All seats in the House of Representatives and one third of those in the Senate
are up for election on November 3. The outcome will be crucial for Mr
Clinton's prospects in his battle to avoid being impeached. If the Democrats
lose badly it will effectively stack the Congressional jury further against the
President and will also lead his supporters to question their prospects under
his leadership.
With three-quarters of state governorships already under Republican control,
the Democrats are attempting to hold on to hundreds of seats in state
legislatures, many of which are also up for election. The White House machine
is already preparing the ground for Democrat defeats by arguing that the
mid-term elections always produce a swing against the President's party, so
that anything other than hefty losses would constitute a victory.
Mr Clinton's lawyers will meet members of the House Judiciary Committee on
Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the impeachment inquiry. Henry Hyde,
the committee chairman, agreed late on Friday that Democrat members could
publicly question Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel whose report is the
basis for the impeachment process.
Republicans believe that the White House's attempts to portray Mr Starr as a
politically-inspired demon will be more difficult to sustain if he is called to
explain more about how he carried out his inquiry.
Others expected to be called when hearings begin after the elections include
Miss Lewinsky herself and Linda Tripp, the woman whose tip-off and secret
tape recordings sparked off the investigation.
Mr Hyde also left open the possibility that the inquiry could move into new
areas including Mr Clinton's ability to lead. Questioned whether he might call
high-ranking Pentagon officials to ask if the President had retained his
credibility as Commander in Chief, Mr Hyde said: "It's a possibility."
Mr Starr's inquiry is meanwhile continuing on other fronts. He is said by
insiders to be re-examining events surrounding Katherine Willey, the widowed
White House volunteer who said the President kissed and fondled her. This
weekend the President and Congress are locked in the final stages of the
battle over key pieces of legislation, including the entire federal budget.
Republicans agreed on Friday to keep Congress sitting, despite the fact that
tomorrow is a public holiday and most politicians want to return to their home
states and begin campaigning.
Otherwise, with the new fiscal year already under way, the Government
would face a fresh shutdown like the one two years ago when Miss Lewinsky
was first invited to deliver the President some weekend pizza.
telegraph.co.uk:80/ |
