In Taft, as in D.C., Talk Is of Clinton

At tiny Dale’s Barber Shop, out here in the land of black gold, the gray-haired boys and retired oil rig workers are all a bit amused over this talk of a philandering president.

The way they see it, what Bill Clinton does in his off-hours is his own business--as long as he keeps running the country as well as he’s been doing.

Here at Dale’s, the boys are sympathetic.

“He’s a good president,” said one bushy-browed regular as he took his seat in the leather-upholstered barber’s chair. “Anyway, with all the messing around I’ve done in my life, they could send me to jail. Who am I to question the president?”

With that, the regulars slapped their knees and told a few off-color jokes. Then 71-year-old Louis Ogee, a retired oil field worker, said what was on everybody’s mind.

“No matter what he’s done, he’s gonna be in a little trouble with Hillary,” he said. “Way I see it, the president’s gonna be sleeping alone for some time to come.”

More than 100 miles north of Los Angeles, in a far southwest corner of the San Joaquin Valley, this Kern County oil town (population 6,000) is about as far from the Beltway as you can get.

Clinton won only 38.6% of the Kern County vote in the 1996 presidential election, compared with 51.1% statewide. Yet in Taft, conversation about whether he had sexual relations with a young intern or lied about it, or both, doesn’t run along political lines. Rather, it’s between personal ethics and a president’s right to privacy.

Take Bill Alexander, a retired oil field machine shop owner who didn’t vote for Clinton, but says that the president has won his grudging respect.

“It’s the biggest bunch of bull I’ve ever heard of,” he said, bellying up to a plate of biscuits and thick white gravy at Paik’s Ranch House restaurant.

“Far as I’m concerned, he’s the best president since [Franklin D.] Roosevelt. As to the sex? Didn’t happen. Absolutely not.”

Across the room, sitting in a window booth and looking out toward the town’s only stoplight, 62-year-old Bob Waine can barely contain his contempt for Clinton.

“I think he’s a liar and a cheat, and I’ve felt that way ever since he took office--I didn’t need any sex scandal to convince me of that,” the retired Chevron worker said.

Waine said he refused to watch the president’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night and laughed out loud when he heard that Clinton actually got several standing ovations.

He’s tired of the whole sorry mess and can’t bear watching it on television anymore. “He’s guilty as sin, and he’s become an embarrassment to the nation,” he said. “I’m waiting for his resignation.”

At gas stations, beauty shops, car sales lots, convenience stores and in classrooms at Taft Community College, people are talking about the hallowed office of the presidency like they’ve never done before.

Sometimes a difference of opinion over the president’s private affairs comes from the same family, the same social circle, even the same breakfast table, mirroring the growing disparity in public opinion polls between Clinton’s job performance and moral standing.

“They ought to treat ‘Slick Willie’ like they do in the military,” said Mike Coatney, sharing a booth at Paik’s with four companions. “They ought to hang him high.”

“Listen up,” said Robert Lewis. “He who is without sin can cast the first stone. But let me assure you, it’s like a mirror--it’s gonna come back and hit you right in the face.”

Larry McGraw added: “I give the president credit, not as much credit as he gives himself, but he’s done a good job. A lot of people are working today because of Bill Clinton.

“He’s what the country needs, scandal or no scandal. I think we should just let the man do his job.”

In Taft, talk of jobs isn’t anything to take lightly. Founded near the turn of the century when oil gushers popped up around the area, the town’s fortunes have always been closely tied to the fate of crude.

When oil prices are up, people have money to spare. But when they’re down, troublesome times lie ahead.

And since 1991, oil prices have sagged. Since then, Taft’s population has dropped as many of the town’s younger residents have fled in search of work.

The big blow came when the local Sears closed, followed quickly by several family-owned businesses that catered to the now-depressed oil industry.

These days, people don’t have much to do for fun, said Kathy Line, a 54-year-old waitress--other than browse the local Kmart or take a trip to Bakersfield.

For reasons nobody seems to remember, the town in its earliest years was known as Moron. Some folks say it’s a close approximation to the Spanish word for hill.

But one regular swishing his toast around a plate of eggs at Paik’s had another read: “They called it Moron because that’s what you were to live in a little town like this.”

Now, in part thanks to Clinton’s economic policies, many say things are looking up.

There’s pride in the renovated Fox Theater on the main downtown drag and hope that the new federal prison just outside town will continue to bring jobs.

People beam when they talk about the various Hollywood films that have been shot here and a recent write-up in Trailer Life magazine that shows Taft is still alive and well.

At its core, it is a community of family values. That’s what troubles people about the charges against the president.

Many say the controversy could destroy Clinton’s family. They feel sorry for Hillary Rodham Clinton and especially for daughter Chelsea.

“Hey, Bill Clinton’s no saint--he’s a man, just like the rest of them,” Line said. “I just think he and Hillary should be discussing these things. Not us.”

For others, Clinton may have forever lost his country’s confidence.

“A man who leads the country should have some moral standards,” said Darlene Jenkins. “If he lies about his sex life, he’ll lie about other things. How can we trust him?”

At Denise Hoffman’s house, her young son recently announced he wanted to be president.

The mother remains sadly surprised by how she responded.

“I told him, ‘Don’t do that. It’s not a very good thing to be. Be a doctor or a lawyer. But don’t become president.’ ”