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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (4504)	9/10/1998 1:19:00 PM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

DESPERATE GROVEL TACTICS CAN'T HELP DOOMED PRESIDENT GET OFF HIS KNEES By DEBORAH ORIN IT WAS the day Bill Clinton tried to grovel to save his presidency - but watched it go slip-sliding away as cops methodically unloaded box after box of evidence from Ken Starr. He may stay on but his presidency effectively is at an end, presidential scholar Charles Jones said as if writing Clinton's epitaph. His credibility, which is so important for a president, is so badly damaged that it's over ... He's screwed it up. Yes, Clinton tried out his new Grovel Strategy of begging the nation for a chance to make it right. But the buzz in Washington has moved on to whether he'll fight to the end or resign like Richard Nixon. I know everyone says he won't resign, but at this stage in the Nixon presidency and Watergate, they said the same thing about Nixon. They even said he'd bunker himself into the White House as commander-in-chief and refuse to go - but in the end he went, Jones said. A Clinton loyalist with close ties to the president insists: He'll never resign. If he did, his place in history would be as the president who resigned over a sex scandal. He can't bear that. But Republican pollster Kellyanne Fitzpatrick said, He's roadkill. He may stay in the middle of the highway for a while like roadkill - but everyone knows he's very dead. Some predicted the formal death verdict on the Clinton presidency will come after the November election when Democrats realize how badly Sexgate hurt them - and turn on Clinton and cannibalize him, as GOP pollster Ed Goeas puts it. Sexgate was careening out of control yesterday as the blotchy-faced president flew off to Florida like a Flying Dutchman seeking a safe haven while Starr rushed his report to Capitol Hill. And the White House seemed way behind the eight-ball, desperately improvising a Grovel Strategy of begging forgiveness that came weeks too late. The president did not cry, Rep. David Bonior (D-Mich.) reported after Clinton met with nine carefully selected House Democrats, most of them ultra-loyalists who could be counted on to forgive him in advance. Still, Bonior insisted that even Clinton's breathing showed how contrite he now is over sex-and-lies with Monica Lewinsky. He's caused a lot of hurt and pain to people. He feels devastated, he said. The world is a very weird place indeed - rather like Oprah-land or Jerry Springerville - when allies suggest the president's hold on power depends on how much he grovels, how close he comes to tears and whether the American people pity him. More ominously, even the ultra-loyalist Dems who met with Clinton sounded hesitant and sad as they insisted he can survive. It was a red-alert warning for Clinton that none of the hand-picked Democrats who met with him yesterday would say one word against Starr. In Watergate, Nixon was a goner when Republicans began refusing to defend him. One senior Democrat yesterday predicted that more than half the House Democrats are now likely to vote to impeach the president. One big reason: No one knows what other tawdry details or explosive revelations lurk in Starr's report. It's hard to imagine any new evidence that could possibly help Clinton - things can only get worse. The White House also was desperately scrambling for a strategy to use Hillary Clinton to save her husband, perhaps a joint appearance or a public statement that she forgives him and so should everyone else. One big problem: Would it matter? Polls show more than 80 percent of Americans think Mrs. Clinton was fibbing when she claimed she didn't know about his affair with Lewinsky. Why would they believe her apology? I don't think she can come out and say something before they know what's in the Starr report, said a friend of the First Lady. It's awful to watch. She's so private - and she's just seeing her private life paraded for everyone to see. Still, last night the word was that Mrs. Clinton - any marital anger now forgotten - is willing to do absolutely anything to help save her husband's presidency. Other Democrats seemed paralyzed by fear, convinced Clinton is a goner but that he'll fight desperately to save himself and drag them down with him. Democrats are completely depressed, says a Dem strategist. They're caught up in a Greek tragedy. They know the outcome - but they know there will be a lot of pain along the way before we get there.