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Following an historic address in which President Clinton admitted to a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was "wrong," the White House and the nation can't stop talking about it. Betty Anne Bowser sat down with a group of voters from Denver to discuss the President's speech and it possible implications.

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JIM LEHRER: And now how the president's words and approach are playing with the public. From time to time we go to Denver to hear from a diverse group of voters. Betty Ann Bowser was with them last night as they watched the president's speech.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: First of all, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being with us tonight. You heard the president's speech. Did he do what you think he needed to do? Dennis Coughlin.

DENNIS COUGHLIN, Republican: Yes. I think he did. I think it was good for him to admit it, and I also believe it's best to put this behind him. It's something that is very troublesome, I think, to a lot of people, when we talk about family values, and it must be ripping that family apart. But I think as a nation we're better off putting it behind us and going on. So I agree with what the president said, but his actions absolutely are appalling.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: What do you mean?

DENNIS COUGHLIN: Adultery with a young intern, when he's president. I mean, I don't think that there is an American household that thinks that is acceptable. Certainly, he does not think that it is acceptable. But as a nation with the office of the presidency, I think we're best putting it beyond us and limping on through the end of his presidency. But this is something I believe he'll be remembered for.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Dee Cisneros, you're a big supporter of the president. Did he do what you think he needed to do tonight?

DEE CISNEROS, Democrat: Yes. I think he did the manly thing. He took blame. He said he was guilty, that he took all the blame for hurting his family. And I think, yes, we do want role models. We look for role models. We all want saintly role models, but where do we get these leaders? We get them from society as a whole. And the society has changed a great deal from my days, but I think I admire him for taking the blame. He knows he hurt his family.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Are there any of you that think he didn't do enough of what he needed to do, Rev. Ferguson?

REV. RICK FERGUSON, Republican: I think he made a good first step. I wish he would completely take responsibility. I think I was a little disturbed by the shift of blame subtly throughout his address and shifting the blame to the independent counsel, and there was a subtle twist along the way, moving from his own responsibility to independent counsel. And I wish he would take the full moral responsibility and do the right thing.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Chris Goodwin.

CHRIS GOODWIN, Independent: I think what he said about—well, what he implied about the independent counsel I agree with. I think it's gone way too far. I think it's gone beyond investigating legitimate legal issues, or legitimate violations of the law, into really prying into people's personal lives. I think this whole thing is a good case for letting the special prosecutor law expire and not renewing it. And I think the whole concept is completely out of hand.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: James Sulton, did he say enough to satisfy you?

JAMES SULTON, Democrat: The president did what he needed to do. I'm not sure he did what he wished he could do, which would be to wash it all away immediately. In time, it may wash away. But it's impossible to zap it immediately. And to me it's a bit of a stretch to say no single household would continence what he did because I think that the polls have consistently shown throughout his ordeal that the American people have been more than generous in their forgiveness of this. They will forgive; they won't forget so easy. But they will forgive, and this will pass on.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Do you all forgive, Brent Neiser?

BRENT NEISER, Republican: I forgive, but I think there was an absence of taking—dealing with consequences for his action. What I have to say at dinner every night to try to explain this, it's not just the sexual issues, it's the issues of a guy in a position getting away with something. And that's what my kids are looking at. It's like they're watching a movie and seeing is this guy going to really end with, you know, the goods, is he going to get away with it, and be above the law. I think really he should take the high road to ensure a legacy of his presidency, and to elevate the office I think he should resign. It's time for Bill Clinton to take true personal responsibility. And I think he can leave a positive legacy and restore the office.

DEE CISNEROS: Do you enjoy watching him humiliate himself? I mean, do you want him to wear a big "A" on his tie?

BRENT NEISER: No. But I've watched several months of stonewalling at the expense of our nation, and I think the credibility of leadership to our children—and I was in the Naval Reserves for a little bit. If this had happened to me, I would have been out, lost my commission. Any position I've had, I would be on the street looking for a new job and trying to restore—trying to restore the high road from my life and for my family.

ERIC DURAN, Democrat: By resigning, if you look at what happened with the Nixon administration, it was devastating for the economy. It destroyed people's faith in government and the institution of government. I think—I think the president's already taken responsibility for his actions. I think the country needs to put it behind—behind us, and we need to move forward, and we now need to move away from the partisanship and look at what we are doing to our system of government. So I disagree. I think the high road is for him to stick it out, to ride it out. He's admitted that he's made a mistake, and I think the best thing for the country is for him to actually serve out his term.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Linda Houston, let's get you in here.

LINDA HOUSTON, Republican: I think he did the right thing tonight. I don't know that I forgive him. I think he has disgraced the office. I think he has disgraced his family. I think every woman ought to be outraged at the attitude that he displays with women. I just think that it's really sad. And I too want to put it behind, because I think it's crazy that we've spent this much time and money on an issue that he should have just said and taken the responsibility seven months ago. I think he epitomizes the rest of our nation where people will not take responsibility for what they do wrong, and it's always somebody else's fault. And I think he has set an absolutely perfect example of what's going on. And I disagree with the fact that he should be forgiven for all of it.

ERIC DURAN: I think that the institution of the presidency has never been one where, you know, they've taken the moral high road. I mean, I don't think the American public really could accept or handle the truth. I mean, if we knew what the president goes through in order to keep our economy afloat, in order to avoid terrorist attacks by other nations, I don't think that we would—anyone would agree that it's the position of the moral high ground. What we have to come to a realization is that the presidency is—it's about a man. It's about a woman. It's about a person, and that it's nothing more than that. If it were about an angel, if we could have a president that was an angel or some divine being, then maybe we wouldn't have these problems. But it's about a person.

LINDA HOUSTON: I think you're also saying, though, that what it really is, is an institution of the bottom line. As long as the nation is doing okay, as long as everything is hunky-dory, then he can do what he darn well pleases. I don't believe that, because I don't think that's true with the rest of us in this room either.

JAMES SULTON: I don't think that either. I just think that some of the criticism of the president is far too sanctimonious for me. Five hundred thirty-five members of Congress—very few of them rushing to throw the first stone because they know that if a special prosecutor had been seeing after them collectively with the relentlessness and doggedness that Ken Starr has been pursuing the president, not many of them would come away clean. And it is a sad comment, in a way, on where we are, but—

DENNIS COUGHLIN: You're not saying that because everyone does it in Congress, it's okay?

JAMES SULTON: I'm saying that we are not likely to see a resignation, and we're not likely to see an impeachment process, because very few people are holier than thou.

DENNIS COUGHLIN: I agree with that, but still, you are not indicating that because it may be rampant in Congress or in the United States, that that kind of behavior is in any way acceptable or right?

JAMES SULTON: I'm saying it's not unique. I would agree with you; it's not right.

DENNIS COUGHLIN: It's dead wrong.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Dee Cisneros.

DEE CISNEROS: Well, I agree that it is wrong, and I think he admitted it was wrong, but let's go on from here. And what is do we—what is that we want? Do we want all the candidates—do we ask all the candidates, well, how about your sex life? Are we going to ask that? Is that what we want? I mean, when I look for a lawyer or look for a doctor, I don't ask those questions. Maybe I should. Do you think that's what we need to do?

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Suzanna Cordova, what do you think?

SUZANNA CORDOVA, Democrat: One of the things that I think is that first and foremost I feel disillusioned and disappointed. When I look at President Clinton, I think that for many people my age that—and older—that this was a real turning point in our lives--we grew up in the Reagan years, and so this was a real exciting time to be a Democrat, to see his election, and to see his election, and to see the kind of things that happened. And so first and foremost I'm disillusioned and disappointed in the entire thing. I find it a little disturbing, though, to hear people talk about how they can't forgive. I mean, it's not necessarily my place to forgive him or not. I'm not his wife. I'm not his child. I don't know that that's my position, to have to look at that. Throughout this whole thing I think to myself I would hate to have my life on display like this. Now, you know, obviously I haven't chosen to become President of the United States. I haven't chosen to do with my life the kind of things that he's chosen. I don't believe that I've chosen in my own private actions to do the kind of things that it certainly sounds like he's chosen to do. But I know that I've done things that I certainly wouldn't want anybody in this room to know about, and I know that they would not withstand four years of investigation by anybody who could look into them, and I don't want—I would hate to be in that position.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Sam Arnold, we haven't heard from you. Where do you weigh in on all of this?

SAM ARNOLD, Republican: Well, I feel that Ken Starr's made us the laughing stock of the world. I think when people around the world will see our president go on and do a mea culpa, this is just outrageous, and if he were here in Colorado, Ken Starr, I think I would gets lots of chicken feathers and tar and a big log, and I'd run him out of town.

DENNIS COUGHLIN: But you wouldn't do the same thing to President Clinton? Remember, President Clinton was the one that committed this act, not Ken Starr.

SAM ARNOLD: I think he's a very good president. He's been a very fine president, and what his personal life and his personal relationships are with his wife, daughter, and his interns, that's between them. That isn't for prurient interest on the part of the media or the whole country saying, did he do this or did he not do this?

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Rev. Ferguson.

REV. RICK FERGUSON: I have to take strong exception to that. For one thing, we say this is a matter of his private life. We have to remember, this was done in the White House, in a government building, with a government aide by the official holding the highest office in our government. It was done on the job. If this was happening in corporate life, taking advantage of a college-age intern, I mean, there's not a—there's not a court in America that wouldn't try that as criminal today. And so I think we're taking—

JAMES SULTON: Reverend, we've got to get away from the question of whether or not it was right or wrong. He said it was wrong, and everybody agrees with him. To suggest that this doesn't go on in corporate America is quite a leap.

REV. RICK FERGUSON: That's right. But we all know that in corporate America, when it's—when exposed, the corporation becomes very liable for this kind of action than the people involved do, and so I think—

CHRIS GOODWIN: That's only when one party files a complaint against the other. And that hasn't happened here. Monica Lewinsky hasn't accused him of sexual assault or sexual harassment, or any such thing. And that's the key issue in what you're talking about in corporate America, and that hasn't happened.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: How would things have been different over the last seven or eight months if the president had told the truth back in January for the country?

LINDA HOUSTON: I think we'd be a lot richer.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: You think we'd be a lot richer?

VOICE OF GROUP MEMBER: About $40 million.

LINDA HOUSTON: We have spent a lot of money on this, a lot of money.

REV. RICK FERGUSON: I think the leadership would be intact, and he would be more trusted. I think leadership is based on integrity, and I think he would be a much more effective leader.

BRENT NEISER: His options have narrowed significantly by this delay, and, you know, I've looked at it again from Bill—a little bit from Bill Clinton's point of view. He's looking for a legacy. He's blessed with a second term. He's blessed with peace, a great economy. He's had a big part in that, but you know, it's sort of like he's throwing a lot of it away.

JAMES SULTON: I think here is a person who modeled his career after Jack Kennedy, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And this is not the 60's. Some of the things that would have flown in the 60's won't fly now. He didn't get that. He kept on keeping on because he had ascended to the most powerful office in the land. I think that would work a trip on my head or anybody else's. And he's just feeling too full of himself. He went too far, and the word is it's not okay. It's not right. It's not okay. If he gets that, and he says he did, I think that we can move on. If he doesn't get it, then, you know, let the person with the cleanest hands throw the first stone.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Unfortunately, we're going to have to end it right there. Thank you very much for being with us.

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