Clinton Loyalists Walk Emotional Tightrope

In January, as yet another accusation of sexual misconduct took shape against President Clinton, a longtime ally wondered just how hard his loyalists would once again fight on his behalf.

After all, the Democratic operative noted, Clinton’s denials of any “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky closely followed his reluctant admission under oath that he indeed had sex with cabaret singer Gennifer Flowers back when he was governor of Arkansas. His friends and supporters had spent years echoing Clinton’s stand that no such liaison had ever taken place.

The supporter asked out loud how many would rally behind Clinton yet again under such circumstances.

Many did, a small group of more than a half a dozen repeatedly defending him on the airwaves. And Monday, after Clinton acknowledged that he had lied again, the reactions of the stalwarts ran the gamut from disappointment to chagrin to a sense that duty had called and they had simply faced an occupational hazard.

Among those who know and have observed the Clinton loyalists, the belief is strong that some of the president’s defenders were more willing to mislead than were misled themselves.

For those employed at the White House, there was little time for introspection and little time for anger. That’s because there was a speech still to write and stage, and still more spinning to be spun.

For others, the last piece of privacy to protect was their own state of mind.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said his feelings were “predictable,” but added, “I’m not going to comment on them.” McCurry had been the only White House staffer to publicly speculate that Clinton had no “simple, innocent explanation” because, he told the Chicago Tribune, “I think we would have offered that up already.”

A somber Lanny J. Davis, who supported Clinton on television more than 70 times since he left his White House position as special counsel on Jan. 30, declined to discuss whether he was disappointed that Clinton had not been entirely upfront about the nature of his dealings with Lewinsky.

“Whatever feelings I have I will only share with him and Mrs. Clinton,” he said.

Davis, now an attorney in private practice, said he stood up publicly for the president “as a longtime friend of the Clintons, as a lawyer and most important, as someone who still believes in the Clinton presidency and what he’s done for the country.

“I don’t regret standing by him for those three reasons, especially the third one,” Davis said.

Political consultant James Carville, another ardent Clinton defender, said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that “I don’t feel betrayed. He has my undying loyalty. I think he’s been a great president and he’s been a great friend . . . I feel fine.” And he kept on spinning: “I would paraphrase Dante. The hotblooded will be judged easier than the coldblooded.”

But on the same program, former Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers described herself as “less willing to forgive . . . at the moment.” She noted that Clinton “sent [supporters] out there, put their credibility at risk, cost a lot of innocent people a lot of time and a lot of money [in defending themselves].”

On Monday, Clinton took time for private talks with several staff members who had publicly pleaded his case.

But one former Democratic Party advisor had little sympathy for the spinmeisters, many of whom are paid six-figure salaries. Of “half a dozen” friends in the Clinton White House who talked to the advisor about the Lewinsky matter, he said, all passed along the same gossip but “exactly one person showed pangs of conscience” about showing a different face in public.

“But to them this is simply a political struggle,” he said. “Some are rationalizing. Some like the perks of their position. Still others have been enablers.

“They’re angry,” he said, “but because they were left out of the discussion, being cut off from power.”

Marlin Fitzwater, who served for 10 years as a spokesman for Presidents Reagan and Bush, took a similar dim view. “Clinton has created a cult of advisors who will lie for him all along, and they will continue to do that till the end.” And, he added, he believed it was deliberate.

“If they did not know, they’ve got to be the dumbest people in America because there’s 250 million people in America who have known for six months,” Fitzwater said.

One administration official who spoke privately for months about believing Clinton’s denials, found the president’s admissions “obviously disappointing. If he lied in order to protect his wife and child I still don’t think it’s great, but at least it’s more understandable . . . He’s still a great president and has done a lot of great things for this country and will continue to do so.”

Another senior advisor described himself merely as a realist.

“I work for him,” he said. “It’s his presidency. I’m here to help him on his presidency. I know what I’m here for. I’m a grown-up.”

And he added: “I just can’t pick the high moments to be his friend, supporter and loyal staff person. And I think when he makes a personal explanation and takes responsibility for his action, what more do you want from a person?”

Times staff writers Alan C. Miller, Ronald Brownstein, Doyle McManus and Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this story.