FIELD REPORTS

October 4, 1998
	Correspondent Jeffrey Kaye reports on how the president's problems are shaping two campaigns for Congress, one in California, the other in North Carolina.

Oct. 4, 1998: Election '98: The National Report Oct. 4, 1998: A look at two open seat contests. Oct. 4, 1998: A full report and debate on the politics of impeachment. Oct. 4, 1998: How will the budget and other issues impact Election '98? Oct. 4, 1998: A conversation between voters in Denver and Members of Congess.   Barbara Boxer, incumbent Senator from California	DAN PAGE, Republican candidate North Carolina: It's important to send a message to Washington that the people here in the second district care about what kind of men women we have serving in Congress and the White House.
	Launching the air campaign.
	JEFFREY KAYE: Republican Dan Page was among the first in the country to run an ad directly tying his Democratic opponent to the controversy surrounding President Clinton. In August, the North Carolina State Senator, jump-started his campaign with a TV ad attacking first-term Congressman Bob Etheridge. AD: Who stands with Bill Clinton even now? Liberal Bob Etheridge. Etheridge gives Clinton a standing ovation, applauding Clinton's values, not ours. JEFFREY KAYE: Page says he took a risk running the commercial since some party leaders thought it might backfire. DAN PAGE: Party leaders were saying do not run this ad. Do not do this. We did it because we thought it was right, regardless of what the consequences were, which at the time some would say would have been terrible for the campaign. JEFFREY KAYE: But, says Page, the commercial has energized his campaign. President Clinton's problems have also motivated Republicans, according to Bill Peaslee, chairman of the Wake County republican party. BILL PEASLEE, Wake County Republican chair: The phone at the county party headquarters has been ringing off the hook. It's generated a tremendous amount of interest in people wanting to work for the Republican Party this year. It's been great as far as local politics is concerned
	An incumbent on the defensive.
	BOB ETHERIDGE: We ought to save it, to save Social Security first. JEFFREY KAYE: When Democrat incumbent Bob Etheridge campaigns, he prefers to stick to issues -- like Social Security, education, and Medicare --and not talk about the president. BOB ETHERIDGE: These people down here they want to talk about the issues that affect their daily lives, where they live, you know. Of a morning when they get up most folks don't worry about the other. JEFFREY KAYE: Are you saying that the scandal in Washington is irrelevant to the issues and to your campaign? BOB ETHERIDGE: Well, I don't know that I'd say irrelevant. What I would say is that as far as the people in the 2nd district are concerned, they are more concerned about the day to day issues. JEFFREY KAYE: But there is little question that moral issues resonate in North Carolina's second congressional district . Although it includes fast growing urban Raleigh, much of the district is politically conservative, big tobacco and bible belt country. JEFFREY KAYE: Page, who sings in his church choir, says his polling data indicate district voters see the election in part as a referendum on President Clinton's conduct. DAN PAGE: It remains to be seen what kind of effect that's going to have. But I think people think that it's important. And I think that in some way or another they're expecting the Congressman to address this issue. JEFFREY KAYE: But Jenny Edwards, chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party, says it's the media, not the public, that insist on raising the Clinton controversy. JENNY EDWARDS: Most of the calls I get is wanting a reaction on the Clinton situation. Well, my response to that is that the Washington scandal has not educated one child in Franklin County, it hasn't built one school or raised one teacher's pay. We're dealing with that locally and trying to do the best we can. JEFFREY KAYE: But Peaslee says that the Washington uproar may have a local impact, particularly on democratic voters. BILL PEASLEE: If they feel demoralized, if they feel let down by their president, they may decide to stay home. And if they stay home, that means that not only they don't vote for the federal candidates, but they don't vote for the local democratic candidates either.
	The California Senate race.
	JEFFREY KAYE: In California, as in North Carolina, Democrats are worried about a low voter turnout. U.S. Senator Barbara boxer, in a tight re-election bid is asking her traditional base of support - labor, minorities, women - not to be distracted by controversy over the presidential. SEN. BARBAR BOXER: The pundits and the pollsters and some of the press are staying that you're not going to vote. Are you going to get your friends to the polls and tell them how important this election is. JEFFREY KAYE: Boxer's Republican opponent, California state treasurer Matt Fong has also been rallying supporters - as he did at last week's state Republican convention. MATT FONG: Barbara Boxer has never met a tax increase she didn't like JEFFREY KAYE: But unlike Dan Page in North Carolina, Fong says he prefers to talk about issues such as defense spending and taxes, and not about the White House controversy. Last weekend when Mr. Clinton came to California to raise funds for Democrats, Matt Fong didn't even mention the president in his speeches. But reporters brought up the issue. MATT FONG: I'm not running against Bill Clinton. I'm running against Barbara Boxer and the issues about Barbara Boxer will always be on the table. Thank you. MATT FONG: If you travel with me everywhere I go, everywhere I've been, you'll find that its not in my context of my speech. I'm fighting against Barbara Boxer's record. JEFFREY KAYE: But when asked about the president - - and he often is - Fong has criticized Boxer for being more outspoken against republicans accused of sexual misconduct. JEFFREY KAYE: Boxer, whose daughter is married to Hillary Clinton's brother, hascriticized the president's conduct. SEN. BARBARA BOXER: I've been unequivocal. What happened was wrong. JEFFREY KAYE: But Boxer has complained that the news media's preoccupation with the president has often made it difficult for her to discuss the issues SEN. BARBARA BOXER: It's been about 10% the issues and 90% what do you think about Bill Clinton 's hardship. So it has been hard to draw the distinction, but I'm thinking people are tired of hearing about this and they really want to hear the differences, so I'm hopeful.
	California Republicans on the offensive.
	JEFFREY KAYE: To focus back on issues, Boxer has coupled her criticisms of Mr. Clinton with the message that a Democratic president has been good for California, despite his mistakes. SEN. BARBARA BOXER: I don't think that in any way should cloud our vision of what he has done for this country. You know especially in California where we were in the darkest recession since the Great Depression. We've had one point four million new jobs created. A hundred thousand new businesses and the first balanced budget in thirty years. JEFFREY KAYE: The state chairman of the California Democratic Party, Art Torres, is trying to focus the debate on issues like these, because he says, that's what the public wants. ART TORRES: They want to know what their Congress people, what their Senators are going to do about Medicare, Social Security, education, and the calls that I've been seeing in traveling around the state in the last few days seem to indicate that anger on he part of the Democrats that are out there and independents and moderate Republicans are going to shift this debate to the issues where the Democratic Party are strong. JEFFREY KAYE: Fong says that's what he also wants - a position consistent with a September poll indicating 60 percent of California voters cared more about issues than candidates' character. But the head of the California Republican Party, Michael Schroeder plans to hit Democrats over the head with the Clinton issue. MICHAEL SCHROEDER: I will tell you from the party standpoint, we're going to raise it over and over and over again. Both in advertising and in speeches and in press conferences and every other way we can, we're going to make sure that the voters, when they make their voting decisions, factor into the considerations things like Democrats are still embracing Bill Clinton and his values. JEFFREY KAYE: Schroeder has traveled around the state challenging Democrats to distance themselves from the president and reject his fundraising help. No Democratic party leaders have accepted his challenge.

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