Divisiveness Rules as Debate Opens

If criticism of the U.S. attack on Iraq showed that partisanship no longer stops at the water’s edge, Friday’s debate on impeachment made plain that it also doesn’t stop when Congress stands at the threshold of exercising its most awesome power.

The people’s House assembled Friday to consider the weighty question of whether to unseat the president of the United States, and the two parties proceeded only to talk past each other. One party’s defense of the rule of law was the other party’s idea of a legislative coup d’etat.

The divisive--though largely dignified--House debate was the capstone of a week in which the rawest partisan divisions of U.S. politics became ever more exposed. This was true not just in the run-up to impeachment but also in the skepticism that some Republicans voiced about President Clinton’s motives for bombing Iraq and in the surprise revelation by House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston (R-La.) that he, too, had engaged in extramarital affairs.

Against that head-spinning backdrop, the impeachment debate was not just about Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky and his future as president but also about the state of a political culture that has become increasingly partisan, personal and stripped of civility over the last generation.

“We are now at the height of a cycle of the politics of negative attacks, character assassination, personal smears of good people, decent people, worthy people,” House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said, in one of the few statements that drew a standing ovation from members of both parties. “The politics of smear and slash and burn must end.”

In laying bare--and exacerbating--the deep chasm between the parties, Friday’s debate and today’s climactic impeachment vote threaten to set back efforts to bring the parties together next year to address Social Security and other policy issues on which bipartisanship is a prerequisite.

A glimpse of how high emotions are running came in a House lobby during Friday’s debate. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) nearly came to blows with Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), impeachment’s most ardent advocate, over the Republican’s reference in his floor speech to President John F. Kennedy--the Democrat’s uncle.

“Normally around here, people comport themselves in a professional way if they have disagreements,” Barr said after the tense, face-to-face encounter.

Camera Flashes Mark Hyde Entry

The gravity of the day’s debate was obvious as House members assembled early for the special session. As Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) walked onto the floor, he was showered with a spray of camera flashes worthy of a Hollywood movie star. Outside the House chamber, the usual buzz of press conferences and committee meetings fell silent.

“The significance of the vote is not lost on members,” said Rep. John B. Shadegg (R-Ariz.). “It takes a while to sink in.” It was a particularly poignant event for the House’s lame ducks--the retiring or defeated members who came back to the Capitol to cast the last vote of their congressional careers.

“I’ve cast over 16,000 votes in my 34 years here,” said retiring Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.). “It’s rather depressing to end a congressional career on this note.”

The debate had an especially surreal quality for lawmakers whose heads were spinning from the military action in Iraq and the out-of-the-blue revelation about Livingston.

“It is a combination of Kafka, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and the Keystone Cops,” said Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas).

It was clear from the very first minutes of the session, which began at the unusually early hour of 9 a.m., that partisan nerves were rubbed raw and that people were on edge. After lawmakers recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Rep. Stephen E. Buyer (R-Ind.) looked up at the press gallery and lashed out at a reporter who was taking notes rather than saying the pledge. “You don’t have to write during the pledge!” Buyer shouted.

House Republican leaders had made one decision designed to help keep emotions in check. Rather than preside over the historic debate themselves, Livingston and lame-duck Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) asked Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) to wield the gavel.

Not only is LaHood a respected parliamentarian, he has lived through another, less-partisan era when political adversaries still could be friends. LaHood for years worked for former House GOP leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.), who was able to put political differences aside and be a golfing buddy with House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) and other Democrats.

Before Friday’s debate began, LaHood took the unusual step of reminding lawmakers of the rules of decorum that limit what “personally offensive references” can be made during debate. With Livingston’s indiscretions receiving prominent attention from newspapers and newscasts, LaHood also warned lawmakers against making comparisons between the president and members of Congress. Democrats hooted.

Throughout debate, no Democrat directly alluded to Livingston’s admission that he had engaged in extramarital affairs. But there were subtle reminders of the new strain put on his fledgling speakership.

Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho), who this fall was also forced to admit an adulterous affair, greeted Livingston by putting a consoling arm around him as he walked onto the House floor.

When both Republicans and Democrats gave a standing ovation to Gephardt for decrying “slash and burn” politics, Livingston was one of the few members to remain seated, stone-faced, hands on his lap.

Bitterness and mistrust between the parties suffused the impeachment debate, and accusations of bad faith on both sides overshadowed serious engagement on the case’s facts and merits.

Republicans cast themselves as the party of probity and portrayed Democrats as willfully closing their eyes to clear violations of the law.

“The only way to avoid impeachment is to leave your common sense at the door,” said Rep. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.).

Democrats accused Republicans of misusing the impeachment process in service of a personal and political vendetta against Clinton.

“You haven’t liked him from the very beginning,” Rep. Carrie P. Meek (D-Fla.) said to House Republicans. “Too many of you have a ‘gotcha’ syndrome.”

Some members--particularly departing lawmakers looking back on their careers in Congress--viewed the impeachment saga as just the latest installment of a 25-year march by both parties toward ever more partisan and personal attacks on political leaders.

Such tactics are “used with reckless abandon by both parties,” said Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

With the debate ringing with references to Watergate and President Nixon’s resignation, some cast the impeachment drive as a belated form of payback.

“What we do here today is to some degree driven by revenge,” said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento). “Some of my colleagues obsess about Slick Willy the way some on my side used to focus on Tricky Dick.”

Careers Ruined by Partisan Attacks

Between Nixon and Clinton, there have been a parade of other elected officials who have seen their careers ruined after coming under bitter partisan attack, including former Rep. Jim Wright (D-Texas), who resigned as House speaker in the wake of an ethics investigation inspired by his political nemesis, Gingrich. Gingrich, in turn, was subjected to a two-year ethics investigation that culminated when he became the first speaker formally reprimanded by the House.

At least a few lawmakers took time to express a clear sense of scandal-weariness.

Referring to Livingston’s confession, spurred by an investigation by Hustler magazine, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said that “this is scorched earth” politics. “You get up and run a red light and they go after you.”

Rep. Peter T. King of New York, one of the few Republicans who plans to vote against impeachment, agonized: “We are a nation consumed by investigations, consumed by independent counsels, consumed by scandal. Where are we going as a nation?”

Times staff writers Edwin Chen and Marc Lacey contributed to this story.

IMPEACHMENT

* Daily routine: It was business as usual Friday for the president and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. A29

* Miserable time: The lives of California’s diverse congressional delegation have been touched by impeachment. A29

* Public opinion: Southern Californians reacted with disgust and anger, while many tried to ignore the House debate. A28