NOW Urges Clinton to Issue Statement

The head of a leading women’s activist group urged President Clinton to address the nation about the White House sex-and-perjury allegations as a new poll showed support for Clinton wavering among women. “I think he must not only testify truthfully ... but I also think that the people in this country want to hear him and want to be able to look at him and judge for themselves,” Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women, told “Fox News Sunday.” The program reported that its own poll found that Clinton’s favorable rating among women, whose votes were instrumental in his presidential victories, fell to 53% at the end of July from a 60% approval rating in January. Clinton has denied an affair with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky and said he never told anyone to lie. Ireland said that women’s support for Clinton would be influenced by a mix of factors, including his policies.