Clinton Plans Damage Control

Turning to his most crucial constituency, President Clinton has summoned House Democratic leaders to a personal meeting today as the White House tries to quell congressional sentiment to punish him because of the Monica S. Lewinsky matter.

With the prospect of impeachment proceedings or other punitive action looming in the House of Representatives, the president’s mission is to make sure House Democrats stick with him even if they denounce his conduct with the former White House intern.

At the same time, Clinton embarked Tuesday on a busy public agenda designed to reinforce the idea that he is both president and presidential. But that effort was dogged by the shadow of the Lewinsky affair.

Arriving at a Silver Spring, Md., elementary school to tout his education program, Clinton was greeted by demonstrators holding, among others, this blunt sign: “YOU’RE FIRED.”

Tuesday was the president’s first full day back at work after an abbreviated summer vacation and an arduous trip last week to Russia, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and the question encircling him was whether his presidency would survive.

Focus Is on Pending Starr Report

The immediate focus, however, was on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s nearly complete report to Congress on possible impeachable offenses by the president. Starr rejected a request from David E. Kendall, Clinton’s personal lawyer, for an advance look at the document.

Kendall had insisted that “fundamental fairness” dictated that the president’s lawyers have the chance to submit a response to the report when Starr delivers it to Congress.

In a highly formal reply, Starr responded that such a course would be illegal because Congress has provided “that no barrier should intervene between the House of Representatives and its prompt receipt of impeachment-related information.”

Washington also was abuzz with reports of impending staff changes at the White House. And from one Clinton confidant, a senior Democrat, came the suggestion that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton soon would speak out.

This source floated the idea that the first lady would say publicly that she has forgiven her husband for his relationship with Lewinsky. The implication: If she can forgive him, then others should too.

“She’ll work her way through this, if she hasn’t already, and speak up soon,” the Clinton friend said.

One White House official told associates that former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, the Maine Democrat, is close to accepting the post of White House chief of staff. Other reports have cited Mitchell as a candidate for a new position as the White House liaison officer with Congress in matters pertaining to Lewinsky.

There is precedent for the former: In the depths of the Iran-Contra scandal in February 1987, President Reagan named another former Senate majority leader, Tennessee Republican Howard H. Baker Jr., as his chief of staff to help restore his standing.

Mitchell, a lawyer in private practice in Washington, New York and Maine, most recently has served as Clinton’s special representative to the Northern Ireland peace talks. His office said that he was out of the country Tuesday.

Clinton’s meeting today with Democratic lawmakers, which may be followed by a bipartisan session later this week, is ostensibly to discuss the legislative calendar before Congress adjourns. But there was little doubt that the Lewinsky matter would be raised.

The timing is important because later this morning, House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) will meet with House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to discuss plans for handling possible impeachment proceedings. The House resumes its sessions today for the first time since Clinton addressed the nation on Aug. 17 about his relationship with Lewinsky.

The personal and political diplomacy that Clinton and his aides will undertake in coming weeks could be crucial as lawmakers prepare for Starr’s report. The president’s goal is to convince the House, which has the authority to prepare articles of impeachment or devise some other form of punishment such as censure, that he has suffered sufficiently for his conduct.

But in the Senate, which would consider an impeachment approved by the House, there were renewed signs of erosion among Clinton’s Democratic allies.

Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who has been blasted in her reelection campaign for not criticizing Clinton enough, said in a speech on the Senate floor that his relationship with Lewinsky was “immoral.” But she praised his public policies.

“In the Senate, we must strive for private morality and we also should strive for public morality,” said Boxer, whose daughter is married to Mrs. Clinton’s brother. In an interview, Boxer said she supports censure of Clinton’s behavior.

“I don’t think a censure resolution would even be controversial in the Senate. I don’t think you’d have a dissenting vote,” she said.

Not Entirely Warm Welcome

During his school visit, Clinton called for more school construction and modernization. But even in a suburb friendly to Democrats, Clinton received a not entirely warm welcome.

“Embarrassed, Disheartened, Disgusted by our President,” read a large sign on a fence a few blocks from the school. A few dozen people greeted him with similar messages and Maureen Linnehan, 26, who held the “YOU’RE FIRED” sign, said: “The American people need to wake up and he needs to leave office.”

But some Clinton supporters stood within the mostly hostile crowd and expressed anger at Democratic lawmakers who have spoken out against him.

“The Democrats have to shape up,” said Alex Getachew, 23, whose sign read “Fire Ken Starr.”

Later, a senior Democratic official said the impact of the attacks on Clinton, will be to hurt Democrats in November.

Still, the political fallout was evident inside the school. Maryland’s Democratic governor, Parris Glendening, who is up for reelection, stayed away.

Times staff writers Edwin Chen, Robert L. Jackson and Marc Lacey contributed to this story.