The Power of Words. This scandal may be Clinton's last

1/23/98
This scandal may be Clinton's last

By M. CHARLES BAKST
Journal-Bulletin Political Columnist

       It's one thing for a president to act as if he's above the law.
       It's another for him to act as if he's above the law of averages.
       This time, it appears, Bill Clinton really may have done himself in.
       You're ready to believe it because the scandal plays upon everything you've always known or suspected about him - the womanizing, the courting of danger, the shaving of truth, the cutting of corners, the ability to put the fix in, to finesse and charm and escape from the tightest of situations - and you've wondered how long he could get away with it, and now you see, or now you fear, that maybe this time his luck has run out.
       An astonished, mortified Governor Almond phoned here yesterday to ask, "What do you make of all this stuff? What a message it sends!"
       Republican Almond, whose service as U.S. attorney included the Nixon Watergate years, observed, "Whoever the president is, when the president is under siege, it's terrible. It's not a good time for the nation."
       It's an especially awkward time for leading Democrats. They have benefited from Clinton campaign visits and have glowed about his programs. But the first law of politics is self-preservation, and you could detect in many of their voices yesterday an alarm and a distance. No one wants to hit a guy when he's down, but, hey, you don't want to say too much, get too close, and wind up getting burned either.
       Sen. Jack Reed, Mr. Clinton's foremost ally here, sounded rocked. He said no one should underestimate the severity of the charges and that, for all of the Clinton achievements on the economy and world peace, allegations that reach to the "integrity" of our system raise "very, very troubling questions."
       Reed said, optimistically but ominously, "I hope he has an overwhelmingly persuasive response."
       Give Reed credit for setting aside time to be interviewed.
       Rep. Bob Weygand, on a trip to the Virgin Islands, also made himself available, pronouncing himself "very shaken" and saying he's trying to sort things through.
       But Rep. Patrick Kennedy, in what is becoming a standard practice for him on hot topics, issued a bland statement and refused to take questions. (GOP Sen. John Chafee has been ill and his office chose not to raise the matter with him.)
       Although rumor and controversy have swirled about Mr. Clinton since the Arkansas governor ran for the presidency in 1992, the current scandal has mushroomed with explosive suddenness, as opposed to growing with a slow, steady force as Watergate did. Also, of course, the Watergate incident itself -- a break-in into a party's headquarters -- had a partisan tinge to it.
       As Weygand put it, the scandal over the intern and a possible cover-up has, at its base, allegations of "sex with a 21-year-old in the White House."
       That's a marked contrast not only to Watergate but also to the hopelessly complex Whitewater Arkansas real-estate deal that has been a continuing but relatively low-level nuisance to Mr. Clinton.
       As Eva Mancuso, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, said yesterday, "Everybody can understand, 'Did you cheat on your wife? Did you lie?' "
       Mancuso said Mr. Clinton is entitled to a presumption of innocence, she wants to see proof and so on. But she also said she didn't care for the way he handled interviews on Wednesday, that he should have been "more forceful," demonstrated "more passion" and shown "more directness."
       She said, "These are serious charges, and I saw somebody who was very calculated at how he was saying something."
       Myrth York, running for governor, said she is more concerned with the danger of people jumping to conclusions than with the allegations themselves. "I think the concern is that there be an investigation, that people look at the evidence," she said.
       York is a lawyer, and sometimes talks like a lawyer, and you can't quarrel with that.
       But yesterday seemed a time more appropriate for confronting a gut-wrenching truth -- a political though not necessarily partisan truth: This president is in big trouble and it's pathetic.
       And while it was interesting to talk to the top names in Rhode Island politics yesterday, some of the most on-the-mark comments came from pols on lower rungs of the Democratic ticket.
       State Sen. Paul Tavares, running for general treasurer, said of the scandal, "If this is true, this is an embarrassment. . . . You just get a sinking feeling in your stomach."
       Secretary of State Jim Langevin said Mr. Clinton needs to explain himself to the American people. "On this whole issue," Langevin declared, "the nation is holding its breath."
       Absolutely.
       If Mr. Clinton can't explain himself to people's satisfaction, impeachment would seem a luxury the nation couldn't afford. This situation is too white-hot. If he is shown to be lying, or the public is convinced he is lying, he'll have to leave -- the second president of the United States to resign in disgrace.

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