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Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread Formerly Known as No Rest For The Wicked -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: HiSpeed who wrote (3412)	12/20/1998 1:44:00 PM
From: Tim Luke	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90042

Sunday December 20, 1:21 pm Eastern Time Clinton impeachment sets nation in uncharted waters By Alan Elsner, Political Correspondent WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The impeachment of President Bill Clinton has led the United States into uncharted political waters which it must negotiate in a climate of almost unprecedented partisan bitterness. ''The road we're about to step onto now in terms of the constitutional process in the Senate is genuinely uncharted,'' said Delaware Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden. Some of the many unanswered questions arising from the House of Representatives vote to impeach Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice include the following: -- Will the Senate actually put Clinton on trial and if so, how long will it last? Most senators believe a trial is inevitable even though a motion to dismiss the case can be made at any time. -- Will public support for Clinton erode as a trial proceeds and will pressure grow on him to resign? -- Is there any chance of 12 Democratic senators abandoning the president, giving the Republicans the 67 votes needed to remove him from office? -- Will the Republicans face a political backlash in the elections of 2000 for pursuing the impeachment case against Clinton in the face of public opposition? -- As the politics of revenge deepens, how many politicians and public officials will see their lives wrecked and careers ruined because of past indiscretions, sexual or otherwise? -- Can Congress or the president get anything else accomplished in the next year? ''We have a constitutional obligation to commence the trial. The chances are pretty good that we will have a trial (but) it need not last very long,'' said Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. But Clinton's lawyers have suggested there is no way a trial could be concluded within three days to three weeks, as has been suggested by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. ''It would disrupt the government of the United States, divide the country and actually defy the will of the people,'' said White House counsel Gregory Craig, before the House vote was taken. White House officials worry that once a trial begins and the case is laid out in detail, Clinton's support could erode in the Senate, much as it did in the House. At this point, however, it is hard to see more than two or three of the 45 Democrats abandoning Clinton. ''I don't see any chance of Clinton being removed,'' said David Birdsell, a political scientist at Baruch College in New York City. Another worry is that pressure on Clinton to resign will grow from a public that is tired of the whole business and wants it to go away. So far, however, most voters seem to be sticking with Clinton, as they have throughout the scandal. A CBS/New York Times poll taken after the impeachment vote in the House, found Republicans strongly in favor of Clinton resigning, but Democrats and independent voters strongly in favor of him completing his term. Asked whether it would be better for the country if Clinton resigned or filled out his term, two thirds of Republicans said he should resign. But 89 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents said he should complete his term. Overall, 66 percent wanted him to continue in office. If independents do indeed abandon the Republicans, they may pay a steep price in the 2000 elections. ''The Republicans are going to face real problems in reconnecting with moderate and centrist voters,'' said Birdsell. Many Democrats and some independent analysts have said it was crucial for the future of the presidency that Clinton not resign. Otherwise, future presidents could be removed from office by a hostile House majority willing to use impeachment as a routine political weapon. ''I don't think the president should step down. To do so would be to rewrite the constitution,'' said Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the affair is the deep enmity that has now taken control of the political system, with Democrats and Republicans totally divided. ''We are at a state in our country where politics is almost coming up to violence. Politics is a substitute for violence,'' said House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt. The shock decision by Republicans House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston to resign in the face of revelations of past extra-marital affairs seems to set the stage for even more careers to be wrecked in an atmosphere of political payback that has seized Washington. In such a climate, and with Republicans holding only a wafer-thin majority in the House when the new Congress arrives next month, it is hard to see anything substantial getting done next year.