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Show ee The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Saturday, January 23, 1999 The Whole Sad, Sorry Episode Was Unnecessary "2 & President Clinton's accusers and defenders disagree sharply over many dent, who can you believe?” Republicans, of course, are far from COKIE ROBERTS STEVE ROBERTS points of evidence and law, but both sides can agreeonat least one thing. This whole sorry, sordid episode was profoundly unnecessary. The impeachmenttrial does not re- blameless. Ken Starr and his allies in Rep. Dick Armey, the second-ranking Republican, who told Democrats that Clinton was their president, nothis. Therefusal by GOP leadersto allow a vote on censure in the House wasan act of crass cynicism, not principle. They deprived the public, and thepolitical sys- ciplesorlofty ideas. It was caused by one man’s reckless, even predatory sexual behavior. And then, even more seriously, by his continuing refusal to admit his mistakes and take responsibility for them. the stupid, petty details of the alleged crimes. Thefate ofa presidencyrests on this? The timing of a few phonecalls? The exchange of a few paltry gifts and fumbling caresses? Rep. James Sensenbrennerof Wisconsin summed up this point when he told the Senate: “It is truly sad whenthe lead- er of the greatestnationin the world gets caught up in a series of events where one inappropriate and criminal act leads to another and another and another. Even sadder is that the president himself could have stopped this process simply tem,of the fairest and mostsensible out- UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE ing that turned his private folly into a public trap. Then hefailed to admit the truth about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Then he repeated his evasions before a federal grand jury. Listeningto this tale, in all its seamy detail, it’s possible to believe that this president has a pathological problem with telling the truth, or playing by the Tules. After all, he’s Slick Willie, the Comeback Kid, the Boy From Hope. He’s always escaped before. Well, not this time. Acquittal, when andif it comes,will bring relief, but not vindication. Clinton has already squan- bytelling the truth and accepting the consequencesof his prior mistakes.”” True enough. Asthe prosecutors’ case dered that chance. Americans might think he’s been a good president, but made the wrong judgment. First he failed to resist temptation with a flirtatious, immaturegirl. Then hefailed to settle the Paula Jonescase, the preceed- parents have had trouble answering the makes clear, time after time Clinton NOT RENOVE” THE PRESIDENT? national elections. Remember it was flect some greatclash of political prin- There is a huge disconnect between the historical stakes involved —thefirst impeachmenttrial in 131 years — and P'CONICT aT Congress have been blinded by rage and resentment. They simply cannotbelieve, or accept, the voters’ judgment in two they know he’s not a good person or good role model for their children. A lot of question posed by William Summers, the eight-year-old who wrote to Rep. Henry Hyde: “If you cannot believe the presi- come, a stinging rebuke that states, in the clearest possible terms,that lying by a president is not acceptable. But the Republicansdid not wantto be fair. They wanted to argue, as theydid in the Senate, that the only way to uphold the rule of law is to vote for conviction. That is simply not true. Manypeople, including us, sincerely believe that the president’s actions, however tawdry, do not merit impeachment. In fact, it can be arguedthat the rule of law wouldbe better served by acquittal, that conviction would defy the constitu- tionalintent of the framers. Moreover, it’s painfully hard to swallow the Republicans’ newfound concern for the civil rights of Paula Jones. Listening to the GOP prosecutors, she was Jones of Arc, a brave and lonely voice against the evils of sexual harassment. Please. Where were they on Anita Hill? Thenthereis history. The Clinton hat- ers never seem to consider the precedent that would be set if the president is tossed out. Do they really want future Republican presidents to live with that threat ofinstability and partisan retribution? Is this case really worth the first ejection of a presidentin our entire history? What the Republicans advocateis not conservative at all but profoundly radical Still, it all comesbackto Clinton, notto Ken Starr or Newt Gingrich or any other Republican villain.It's tempting to call the president a Greek hero, victimized by a fatal flaw of arrogance or weakness. Oneof his oldest friends says the com- parison doesn’t work, because Clinton was nevera real heroto begin with. Perhaps. But he’s certainly been a competent president, if not a great one. By any measureof peace andprosperity. the two benchmarks of any administration, Clinton deserves high marks. Even Henry Hyde, the Republicans’lead pros- ecutor, told Ted Koppel on ABC's “Nightline”: ‘I think he’s been a very successful president, more successful than I thought he wouldbe. I think he has a place in history that would otherwise be favorable, very favorable.” “Otherwise.” It's a big word, a terribly sad word. Sadderstill because none of this had to happen. How Can Campaign Financing Be Reformed to Cut the Overhead of Discouraged Candidates? Presidential candidates are weighing in earlier, much earlier than was the custom even a dozen years back, for the simple reason that they need to spenda great deal of moneyin order to press themselves, and their programs, on the voters. It's probably safe to saythat 90 percent of Americans who have qualifications to serve as president are discouraged from attempting to run bythe financial overhead of running. wwto illustrate the problem of ig at Jan. 1, 2000, with $20 million in the bank, garnered from people who can’t contribute more than $1,000 each? Wehearthese days much about men worth #1 bil- lion and more, and there are doz- ensof them. A graphic reminderof how much money that comesto is given herewith: If, beginning on the $20 million to run. Do you know, counting your cousins’ cousins, 55 each to further your political ca- reer, and America’s fortune? Good: that will take care of today’s requirements. But tomorrow's are a day after tomorrow . . and the next 362 days? What mightbe done aboutit? Public financingis the answerraost frequently heard. Howis the money then spent? Mostlyon television, more than 60 percent. Television advertising is disconcerting for several reasons. Oneis that there are many areas of the country wheretelevision ads reach only a small fraction of potential primary voters. If you are waging a campaign in the Connecticut primary, you will need to pa- day that Christ died, $1,000 every day were put aside, one would not percent) will hit people who don't At a less cosmic level, between now and 12 menths from now a Another problem is that, television being as expensiveasit is and viewers being as impatient as they tend to be, advertising one’s views candidate would need to raise 355,000 per day in order to have vote in Connecticut. on privately owned enterprises using, again to be sure, public air- ing. waves. lem, but one that might be ap- A third consideration is the length of campaigns. Ours have now begun, with the all but formal proached by inching back toward nominating conventions dominated by senior political citizens and a announcements of Elizabeth Dole and Bill Bradley, and others — Lamar Alexander,Steve Forbes, Dan fresher problem. What about the tronize New York television sta. tions, whose transmissions (90 yet have raised $1 billion. WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY people who would put up $1,000 UNIVERSALPRESS SYNDICATE in television bites is a daunting business. Abraham Lincoln's “House Di- vided” speech took one hour and 20 minutes to deliver. Seinfeld couldn't hang onto an audience for that long. Milton would not get through the first paragraph of his Areopagiticaif he wereretailingit through one-minutebites. Quayle among them — expected daily. The election is on Nov. 7, 2000, which meansthat they areall out there campaigning for 22 months. An approach to that problem? Shorten the campaign period There are many arguments for this, mostly the advent of radio and television, which permit a familiarization with candidates way, way beyond whattook months of traveling by horse and buggy to do back when traditions were consolidat- How todo it is, of course, a prob- better exploitation of technology. You shouldn't have to spend 103 nights in Iowa in order to communicate to Iowa voters what you look like and what youare thinking. Then, of course, there is the fourth approach, whichis to let everybody donate what he/she/it wants to a primary candidate, always on the understandingthat the size and provenance of the donation is immediately recorded and publicized. So if Bill Gates and Mi- chael Jordan want, each, to write out a check for $100,000 for their candidate(s), so what? Ditto the labor unions, ditto General Motors. Alreadytheytendto do that kind of thing through“soft money,” that is, contributionsthat step gingerly around the anfractuosities of the law, to give money untied (apparently) to any particular candidate. But we all know who the Philip Morris people were voting for with their $4.2 million in 1996, and who the teachers unions, with equivalent sums, were voting for. Whynottry that? It would bring instantrelief to aspirant candidates who could attract big money be- cause there’d be time to address knots of people with deep pockets. But this would leave the candidate time occasionally to peruse the Federalist Papers. And perhaps it would incite to run the diffident young Abe Lincoln out there, ignored anddispirited by the endless search for moneyand recognition. An approach to this problem? Require television stations, when brought in for license renewal, to yield, free of charge, X number of hours for political candidates. This would amount, to besure, to a levy of somewhere around $250 million WinterSafety Kit Regularly $69.95 Roadlink Value 510; Final Price 518.95 $33.00 Nentel Rebate$83.00 after instantrebate Nentel Winter Safety Kit ; ‘ OUR SEMI-ANNUAL | HOME SALE Our Semi - Annual Home Sale happens only twice a year! So don't missthis rare opportunity to save up to 60%on fine quality home and office furniture. Beautifully designed from the finest sourcesin the world, andits all on sale. 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