Voters Express Conflict Over Impeachment

Standing in the long line of bluejeaned men and women waiting to order at Joe Allen’s barbecue on Saturday night, Ted Dean was a study in ambivalence as he pondered the coming vote in the House of Representatives on whether to impeach President Clinton.

“I think he’s dishonest,” said Dean, a physician from nearby Sweetwater who voted against Clinton in 1996. “But I’m not sure if that’s an impeachable offense. . . . I don’t want to see Clinton out of there, but we need a moral leader.”

Halfway across the country at the Hof’s Hut coffee shop in north Long Beach, Thomas Markham was similarly conflicted. “I think what he did is totally wrong and he should step down,” said Markham, a retired engineer and Republican who voted for Clinton twice. “But I don’t think this kind of perjury is a high crime or misdemeanor. It’s not like what Nixon did when he was in office.”

As the House nears its historic decision later this week, Clinton’s fate lies with a handful of moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats who have not yet declared their intentions.

Interviews over the weekend in the districts of four of them suggest these undecided legislators face a complex, and in some ways insoluble, political problem--with the prospect of impeachment generating intense emotions on both sides and leaving many voters as conflicted as the legislators themselves.

With the vote impending, two things seem most clear from the interviews. One is that last week’s exhaustive and emotional Judiciary Committee proceedings haven’t built any stampede for impeaching the president--a conclusion underscored by national polls over the weekend showing that about 3 in 5 Americans still oppose it.

“Congress needs to leave Bill Clinton alone,” insisted Richard Arredondo, a security guard from Abilene, as he stood at Joe Allen’s. “They’re going to start World War III over an intern.”

At the same time, though, the interviews found few signs that most voters are ready to rise up in active rebellion against impeachment, as the White House hopes.

In many ways, Bruce Whitsell, a utility company lineman from Sweetwater, is exactly the sort of voter the White House hopes will make wavering legislators think twice about impeachment. Whitsell doesn’t consider Clinton’s offenses particularly grave: “All the rest of them’s done it; Clinton just got caught.”

But if his congressman--Rep. Charles W. Stenholm, one of the few undecided Democrats--votes for impeachment, Whitsell said he wouldn’t hold it against him. “If Clinton is removed from office, the world will go on.”

Still, Whitsell’s wasn’t a universal view; in each of these districts, some of those interviewed indicated they might switch their vote in 2000 if their legislator votes opposite to their own views on impeachment. And that’s a prospect that none of these four can ignore, because like most of those still undecided in the House, they are operating with a very narrow margin of error in territory closely contested between the parties.

Republican Reps. Constance A. Morella in Montgomery County, Md.; Stephen Horn in Long Beach; and Rick White in suburban Seattle all represent districts that voted for Clinton in 1996. In 1996, Clinton attracted roughly as large a share of the vote in Morella’s and Horn’s districts as the two legislators did themselves this year. White this year actually ran behind Clinton’s 1996 percentage in his district--and in the process lost to a Democrat who opposed impeachment. Yet because he does not leave office until next month, White still gets to cast a ballot on impeachment this week.

Stenholm, meanwhile, survived last month with just 54% of the vote in a conservative West Texas district that gave a slim majority of its votes in 1996 to Bob Dole. That showing put Stenholm near the top of Republican target lists for 2000.

Strong Opposition in Seattle Area

In the interviews, opposition to impeachment was probably strongest in White’s Seattle-area district. White, of course, doesn’t have to worry about reelection, but he can’t ignore those sentiments either, because he’s already made clear he may want to run for governor in the future.

At an art gallery on Bainbridge Island, Wash., the rural community of affluent commuters that is White’s hometown, saleswoman Victoria Josslin was one of many who expressed impatience with the impeachment proceedings.

“I think it’s totally predictable, totally political, [and] I also think it’s stupid,” she said of the Judiciary Committee’s vote. “Because of the scale of the crime: It’s not a high crime and misdemeanor, it’s not a threat to government, it’s certainly not in comparison to anything Nixon did.”

At a small book cafe on the island, another woman expressed similar sentiments. “It’s a waste of time,” said Caroline, who wouldn’t give her last name. “I think like a lot of people that what was once an important process has now become trivialized because it is a political process.”

Not far away, business owner Barry Lawrence, a Republican, embodied the ambivalence that many feel as the crisis reaches a crescendo. “I guess really I probably don’t want to see Clinton driven out of office, but I just feel he’s been so arrogant about the thing. I know politicians can’t tell the truth. But I just find it very hard to accept.”

Sharper Emotions in Maryland District

Impeachment drew sharper emotions--some for, but more against--in Morella’s district outside Washington, D.C. Though it is a predominantly Democratic district, Morella has thrived there by frequently breaking from the GOP leadership. Several of those interviewed made it clear that they will not forgive Morella if she sides with her party leadership on this issue.

“My husband has called Morella’s office once, and I’ve called twice,” said Bobbie Salthouse, a graphic designer from Bethesda. “If she votes to impeach, she won’t be reflecting Montgomery County. I will definitely hold it against her.

“I don’t know what they want from Clinton. He’s certainly suffered. He’s certainly already been punished. This is going to put the government at a standstill.”

Yet even in this heavily Democratic outpost, there were some signs that the relentless Republican focus on the president’s misstatements is having an impact. Leaving the White Flint Mall with her husband and a friend, Shirley Perkins said she is sorry she voted Clinton into office. “I feel like if you lie about something like that, you’re going to lie about anything. They should get rid of him.”

Democratic Backing for Impeachment

In Long Beach at the Hof’s Hut, where Rep. Horn is often a customer, two-thirds of the two dozen customers interviewed said they would like the articles of impeachment against Clinton to be defeated. Most said they want the House and Senate to return to the business of running the country--though there were sharp flashes of anger even from some traditional Democrats.

Democrat Morris Rector of Paramount, a supervisor at an oil refinery, is ready for Congress to remove the president: “He knew he was being watched and still he did this. He was stupid. The man was a fool.”

Despite those sentiments--and equally passionate views on the opposite side--Horn appears to enter the historic debate in an enviable position. Most of his constituents, for or against Clinton, seem unprepared to hold a grudge if he votes the “wrong way.”

Dick Gaylord, a real estate broker from Long Beach and a moderate Republican who opposes impeachment, said he will continue to support Horn no matter how he votes next week. “No one is going to beat Steve Horn in Long Beach. He is a moderate. He is brilliant. He is sensible. And he works like a dog.”

Although Gaylord’s was by far the dominant view, this district is so precariously balanced that even the slivers of dissent--like that expressed by Republican Evalee Smith--could have huge implications for Horn’s future. Smith, from Lakewood, has voted for Horn in the past but said she won’t again if he supports impeachment. “I would vote him out the next time, absolutely.

“I think the Republicans will only hurt themselves. The public will turn against the party in the next election.”

Little Sympathy in West Texas

It was, ironically, in Stenholm’s West Texas district where Clinton found the least sympathy. Shopping at a Target store with his wife, Scott Sowers, a graduate student in education, didn’t think Clinton should necessarily be removed from office, but he wants the House to impeach him and force a Senate trial.

“I am highly offended that he was involved with a younger employee,” Sowers said. “I know she wasn’t a minor, but I can assure you that someone at the Abilene school district would not get away with that kind of relationship.”

But not far away, Thelma LeMonde, a retired civilian employee at a nearby Air Force base, was, like many, hopelessly tangled in conflicting emotions. “I didn’t vote for Clinton; none of us voted for him around here,” she said in a voice that began almost inaudible but grew more forceful. “And I don’t think it’s right, his affair. But I kind of hate to see him impeached.” Besides, “Stenholm’s constituents probably all done the same thing as Clinton.”

*

This story was reported by Times staff writers Claudia Kolker in Abilene; Kim Murphy in Seattle; James Rainey in Long Beach; and Zerline A. Hughes in Montgomery County, Md. It was written by Ronald Brownstein in Washington.