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| IMPEACHMENT POLITICS | |
 October 4, 1998 
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Washington politics have been dominated by the impeachment story. The
Friday release of more documents collected by the independent counsel
continued the focus on how the House of Representatives will handle the
charges against the President. Following a background report, political
analysts and voters in Denver weigh
in on the issue.
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JIM LEHRER: From the Capitol, Kwame Holman looks ahead. |
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The House prepares for hearings. |
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JOHN CONYERS: I am pleased by the Republican proposal for Watergate-like rules for operation as we move into the inquiry. KWAME HOLMAN: But Conyers -- speaking for all Democrats on the committee -- vehemently opposes following those Watergate rules that would allow an open-ended inquiry of President Clinton with no restrictions on the issues to be investigated. JOHN CONYERS: Well, we're talking four to six weeks or KWAME HOLMAN: Since the Starr Report was released a month ago, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have made it a practice to respond publicly to all complaints from their Democratic colleagues.
KWAME HOLMAN: The impeachment process began in early September with the promise of bipartisanship. HENRY HYDE: (September 9) We're going to do our level best as much as humanly possible to work in a bipartisan fashion. KWAME HOLMAN: But subsequent decisions to release the videotape of the president's grand jury testimony and thousands of pages of supporting material from the Starr Report have created a wide partisan chasm on the committee.
KWAME HOLMAN: That partisan mood may overshadow future action by the committee as it moves toward a full blown inquiry into possible impeachable offenses by the president. JIM LEHRER: The public opinion polls are sending a variety of messages. The impeachment charges and his acknowledgement of a relationship with Monica Lewinsky have not affected President Clinton’s high job performance ratings. But his personal approval ratings have plummeted. Congress’s ratings are high, except on its handling of the impeachment issue. The polls reflect an uncertain landscape for the fall election. Margaret Warner has more on that.
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Candidates play it safe. |
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Ron, how important is this election going to be to the president’s impeachment prospects?
MARGARET WARNER: Bill McInturff, how are Republican candidates playing this issue now? BILL McINTURFF: Well, I think this is the balance. The public does
not want this to be a partisan issue. They want MARGARET WARNER: All right. And Bob, how are you seeing – before we talk about what the Democrats are doing, how are you seeing what Republicans are doing? BOB SCHRUM: Well, I think the public may want it to be quick, but I don’t think the Republicans want it to be quick. I think the Republicans see two advantages in this situation right now. One, I think they believe that especially when you look at predicted likely voters, this is going to yield them some real gains in this election. And secondly, I think the strategy, if that happens, is to come back to hold lengthy impeachment hearings and inquiries and see if they can prepare the country for the idea that the president ought to be impeached. MARGARET WARNER: And how are Democratic candidates dealing there – with this issue in a counter way? BOB SCHRUM: Well, they’re mostly not talking about it. I mean, Democrats
are trying very hard to talk about the health care bill of rights, about
saving Social Security, about the minimum wage, about education. But
I think Bill’s right, there’s an overlay that comes out of Washington,
not of the RON BROWNSTEIN: You know, if you look at the candidates who are either staunchly, unequivocally defending Bill Clinton, or are calling on him to resign, they’re almost all in safe seats. People who are in the marginal seats – in the swing seats – are, as Bill and Bob said, are being very cautious, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, because in fact, you have an electorate at this point that is critical of what Clinton has done but quite resistant to the idea of removing him before his presidency is over. So you’re seeing very little evidence of sort of a stampede among even Republicans -- Republican candidates – to say he should go.
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BOB SCHRUM: I think that’s pretty honest, actually. It’s obvious that
the highest Republican hopes depend on the lowest possible voter turnout.
And the release of a tape, which Democrats resisted and Republicans
promoted, and is a wonderful illustration in how life has the opposite
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KWAME
HOLMAN: When the House Judiciary Committee meets tomorrow, members are
expected to spend most of the day -- and possibly part of Tuesday as
well -- debating a resolution that would authorize the committee to
"investigate fully and completely whether sufficient grounds exist for
the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to
impeach William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States of
America." Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said he chose that language
because it follows -- word for word -- the Watergate resolution of the
Judiciary Committee 24 years ago. The only member of 
the
current Judiciary Committee to have served during Watergate is the ranking
Democrat John Conyers. 
--
you know, we're talking about a reasonable period of time that we would
negotiate. But we've got to put a limit on it. I mean, I'm horrified
at the thought that somebody would tell me that this should just go
on until -- I mean, we're in the fifth year of finding out if there
are any -- if there's anything to bring, and now we're going to then
go into an inquiry that would also be open-ended for, what, four or
five years? 
CHARLES
CANADY: Our focus is on the referral from the independent counsel. I
don't know that we will look at anything else, anything beyond the matters
that are addressed in that referral. But we all know that the independent
counsel has other matters under investigation; he indicated that in
the report that was published. There is a possibility that he will refer
additional information to us. If he does that, we certainly shouldn't
be foreclosed from considering that. 
MARTIN
MEEHAN: My sense all along is that the Republicans want to release as
many documents as many times as they possibly can and that's still my
feeling. 
RON
BROWNSTEIN: Probably very important. So far, neither party is precisely
framing the election or referendum on whether Bill Clinton should stay
or go. But in large measure that’s what it may turn out to be, even
though relatively few candidates are emphasizing it in their campaigns.
If Republicans make big gains, they probably will be much more enthusiastic
about moving forward with impeachment proceedings, and if the elections
are a relative wash, I think the fact that the public is still resistant
to going forward may have more weight. 
us
to be fair. They want us to be bipartisan. They want us to be quick.
And so other than some Republican candidates who are thirty or forty
points behind, who have no chance, you don’t see mainstream Republicans
in a Republican close race and trying to partisan – to make this a partisan
issue. I don’t think they should. I think this story sits on top of
the environment and both parties are trying to react with enormous caution
because the public’s telling us, we don’t want this to be a partisan
issue, we want this handled fairly and in a bipartisan way.
national
news, that hangs over this election. And people obviously get asked
questions: What’s your position; Do you think the president ought to
be impeached; do you think he ought to resign? Most people, for example,
people running for the Senate, say – and I think quite properly so --
that they may have to be a juror in a proceeding and they can’t prejudge
it. I’m astounded actually that there are a few Republican Senate candidates
who have gone to the point of saying, yes, I think he ought to be impeached.
At some level you want to say, well, I think they can’t even be on a
jury if the trial ever comes to the Senate. 
MARGARET
WARNER: Bill, go back to the issue that Bob raised about the sort of
intensity factor, though, among some Republicans who do want impeachment.
Turnout is historically much lower in off-year elections. Do you think
this impeachment issue could affect turnout, and, if so, which way and
with which voters? 
BILL
McINTURFF: Well, from August 17th, when the president gave his speech,
through the first week in October, this has been a turn of events for
the Republicans. It has really energized our core voters. It has really
ratcheted up the number of people who want to go vote, who say they’re
going to vote Republican. Now, what happened this week and what’s happening
right now in the data is, as the House has moved forward, as we’ve released
the video, as there will be a vote for inquiry, there’s no question
that it’s also now we’re seeing some reaction from core Democrats, who
are beginning to filter this through – this isn’t fair; it’s too partisan.
And we’re seeing a ratchet up on the Democrats’ side. So I think what
it might mean, as I’ve been saying for a year, this could be the lowest
turnout in American history. It’s possible that as both sides pick a
side on this impeachment thing that we might actually see a tick up
in turnout. But, in general, overall, what’s still happening is most
likely voters are four to six points at least more Republican than when
you look at all registered voters, and the edge is, I think, generally
on our side. 
consequence
of what you think it’s going to have, has created a new situation in
which I think there is more awareness among Democrats and among core
Democratic groups like African-American voters, that maybe it’s important
to go out and vote this year. And if that happens, this equation will
change again. It would defy all historical odds for that to occur, but
this whole situation really doesn’t have a lot of precedence.