Full Agenda, Despite All

Bill Clinton went before a joint session of Congress to deliver his seventh State of the Union address as if it were any other Tuesday night in Washington. He came to the Capitol as the president and not as the defendant in an impeachment trial. But no one could overlook the fact that only hours earlier Clinton’s lawyers began presenting their defense in his trial before the Senate.

Before the address, Washington was thinking back to all the times Clinton had pulled a rabbit out of the hat, most especially last year when he gave a rousing speech and appeared unperturbed by then-fresh and sensational charges swirling around him. This year his challenge was immeasurably greater as he faced a House of Representatives that had impeached him and a Senate that now sits in judgment of him in a trial.

Tradition overcame political enmity in the House chamber as the sergeant-at-arm announced his arrival in time-honored style: “Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States!” The Republican response was muted but polite. In one of his trademark detailed speeches, Clinton proposed a familiar populist agenda of congressional action for 1999 even though no one can be absolutely certain he will still be in office by the end of the year. Of all the bizarre happenings in Washington in the past 12 months, this was the most surreal.

We have said it’s time for Clinton to offer a Social Security plan crafted to avoid another solvency crisis in that program. He made a good start Tuesday as he laid out a detailed plan that was centered on a $2.7-trillion program to shore up Social Security and to create a new government-supported form of retirement account.

The agenda was chock-full of ideas designed to appeal to the broad middle of the American political spectrum--improved schools, better home health care, aid for the disabled and a tax credit for mothers who stay at home when their children are young.

But even if Clinton survives the impeachment trial--and the odds are he will--is there any room for compromise on the damaged ground that separates the Democratic president from his GOP accusers? Clinton’s speech will frustrate some of his opponents: Who among them will rise up and fight against shoring up Social Security, helping stay-at-home moms and improving accountability in public schools? Once again, while Clinton made a few traditional Democratic pitches, such as an increase in the minimum wage, he took whole chapters out of the GOP playbook and made them his own.

Clinton and his foes should agree that their mutual dislike and distrust cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the nation’s needs. Clinton departed from his speech text at the very outset to turn to the new House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and offer his hand in the spirit of “civility and bipartisanship.”

A united effort is especially important in working to achieve a fiscally sound Social Security system. Because of today’s thriving economy, there may never be a better opportunity for fixing Social Security than right now.

Politically, it is the House Republicans who have the most at risk in coming months. Voters may again brand them as obstructionists--as they did following the 1995 budget impasse--and give control of the House back to the Democrats in 2000.

As for the president, if past State of the Union performances are any guide, his job rating in the opinion polls can be expected to bounce up today. It’s also likely those polls won’t faze his enemies in Washington. The trial possibly could go on for months, which is especially nonsensical considering that Clinton cannot stand for reelection next year. And the disconnection between the world of the Beltway and everywhere else continues.