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To: Gabriela Neri who wrote (18774)	9/13/1998 10:04:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116759

Defiant Clinton 'will never resign' By Hugo Gurdon in Washington PRESIDENT Clinton regained a semblance of control over his crisis stricken White House operation yesterday, taking advantage of the hesitancy of his Republican opponents to declare that he would "never" resign. <Picture> President Clinton talks with White House communications director Ann Lewis yesterday His lawyers fanned out through televised Sunday morning talk shows to blunt attacks based on lurid details of his sexual encounters and cover-ups contained in Friday's report from Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel. With Republicans willing to wound but afraid to strike, Mr Clinton appears to have avoided the immediate danger of being howled out of office by an outraged nation. Instead he is preparing for a long slog and, according to those who know him well, will fight all the way through impeachment and a trial in the Senate if necessary, rather than leave office voluntarily. Charles Ruff, the White House counsel, who with the President's personal lawyer, David Kendall, is commanding the fightback, said that Mr Clinton would "absolutely not resign, never". Republicans and Democrats left Washington for the weekend to test opinion in their constituencies before committing themselves to attack. They will return today armed with polls superficially suggesting that Mr Clinton is doing well, with 58 per cent saying that he should not resign. But beneath the surface, public opinion is running sharply against him and bodes ill for his chances of staying in office until the end of his second term in early 2001. Pollsters predict big Republican gains in congressional elections in November because of the Clinton scandals. ABC News found that 57 per cent of people think that the President should be impeached if he encouraged Monica Lewinsky to lie to conceal their affair, a 14-point rise since last month; 59 per cent think he broke the law, a 17-point jump in only four weeks. The White House counter-attack has not struck home; 49 per cent believe that Mr Starr has made a strong case for impeachment, while only 26 per cent say that White House lawyers have a strong case against it. Democrats, furious that the President's conduct is likely to lead them to defeat in November, have warned him that their wafer-thin residue of tolerance will crack completely if there are any more unpleasant surprises from the Oval Office. Their fears may be realised. Over the weekend there were hints of more of what Mr Clinton's own workers call "bimbo eruptions". A security camera video from the Oval Office was played on television, showing Mr Clinton escorting a young woman through a door into the hallway where his trysts with Miss Lewinsky took place. It has rekindled speculation that at least one more woman will be exposed as a lover. All of Washington is also poring over a section of the Starr report describing a strange incident at the White House when Miss Lewinsky turned up unannounced late last year. When she heard that Eleanor Mondale, an entertainer and daughter of Walter Mondale, a former presidential candidate, was inside, she stormed off in a rage. Mr Clinton later berated the gate guards for disclosing the identity of his guest, the Starr report says. There is a prevailing suspicion in Washington that the extraordinarily detailed report may only have skimmed the surface of White House goings-on under Mr Clinton. Bad polls may be working in the President's favour in the short term. Republicans are pulling ahead of Democrats among potential voters in congressional elections and the party may favour having a crippled and besmirched Democrat in the White House during the next two months. William Kristol, former chief of staff for Vice-President Dan Quayle, said: "The Republicans want this to drag out. They are gaining in the polls every day." Trent Lott, majority leader in the Senate, encapsulated congressional vacillation, saying: "The evidence is overwhelming that the President lied both in his deposition and to the grand jury. The last time a federal judge was removed it was for lying to a grand jury, so we have a precedent." George Stephanopoulos, a senior aide in Mr Clinton's 1992 election victory, says in today's Newsweek magazine: "If necessary, Clinton will risk trial. He won't willingly go home." There are signs that the White House's unacknowledged tactic is to seek a plea bargain with Congress, in which Mr Clinton would avoid resignation or impeachment, but would be officially censured. Some analysts say that a much more serious plea bargain is likely. If Democratic support crashes before the election, or if the Democrats suffer a terrible defeat in November, making the prospect of impeachment and trial by a Republican dominated Congress more likely, Mr Clinton could resign in exchange for a full pardon for his crimes and misdemeanours.