N.J. Governor Scolds Clinton, Sees GOP Gains in O.C. Trip

New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman kicked off a high-profile campaign swing for Republican candidates in Orange County on Wednesday, saying the GOP can capture the White House in 2000 by uniting behind “core principles of family, fiscal conservatism and public accountability.”

The governor, who will be a regular on the national campaign trail this fall, has not talked about her own political future beyond her second term. But with this trip, Whitman secured friendships and gained attention in a state that sets the stage for national politics.

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, Whitman pushed for a united Republican Party and for the United States to have a “consistent approach” to foreign policy. She tweaked President Clinton for leaving “Americans with a presidency that is demoralized.”

The governor drew cheers from the Lincoln Club of Orange County by expressing her “outrage” at Clinton’s admission of an improper relationship with a White House intern.

“I think perhaps the most offensive thing to me, besides his personal behavior, is he has admitted going before the nation and lying to people,” Whitman said. “You don’t raise your children saying it’s all right to lie today because you said you’re sorry tomorrow. He needs to seriously reevaluate his approach to life.”

Then, Whitman toured a museum exhibit called “My Dearest Partner: Husbands and Wives in the White House.” When she reached an exhibit featuring Bill and Hillary Clinton, Whitman smiled and said nothing. Museum curator John H. Taylor said the exhibit timing “was totally inadvertent.”

At the Nixon library, Whitman told California Republicans that victories by gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren and U.S. Senate candidate Matt Fong could “set the Republicans up for the year 2000 presidential election.”

“To say this is an important year for the Republican Party in California is about like saying that Mark McGwire has a decent swing,” Whitman said. “You all can definitely make history. . . . California Republicans face a lot of elections that can change the national landscape once again.”

Lungren trails Democrat Gray Davis in early polls for the race to succeed departing Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. Fong is in a tight race in his attempt to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.