Trial Increasing GOP’s Level of Skittishness

On the cusp of deciding the crucial question of whether to call witnesses in President Clinton’s impeachment trial, many Republicans are growing anxious about the price their party is paying for prolonging a process the public has grown bone-tired of.

That rising anxiety level has helped embolden Democrats to step up pressure on Republicans to join their effort to block witnesses or find some other way to bring the trial to a quick conclusion.

No solid converts have yet materialized, but Democrats--and even some Republicans--now say it no longer seems as farfetched as a week ago, when senators of both parties said it appeared inevitable that witnesses would be called in the case.

But that was before Clinton’s lawyers presented an aggressive, three-day defense of the president.

That was before Clinton delivered a well-received State of the Union address that boosted his approval ratings.

And that was before Pat Robertson, an influential conservative, suggested that the Senate might as well dismiss the case and move on to other things.

After Clinton’s lawyers wrapped up their opening arguments Thursday, several Republican senators said they were not convinced that witnesses were needed.

“On witnesses, I’d have to be persuaded,” said Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). “I would vote [against witnesses] if I had to vote now. I don’t think I’m alone.”

One middle course that appeals to some wavering GOP senators would to allow the case’s lawyers to depose a small number of witnesses but not call them before the full Senate for live testimony.

While the witness question remains uncertain, it is clear Republicans are not eager for the vote on the issue--scheduled for Monday--to split along party lines. Such a scenario, they fear, will quickly cause Democrats to parade it as evidence that Republicans are responsible for prolonging the trial.

“People are concerned,” said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), “because the biggest comment I get from people in Kansas is: ‘Get it over with!’ ”

The debate about whether to extend the trial by calling witnesses is coming to a head as polls continue to show that the impeachment process has taken a serious toll on the Republican Party--and seemingly left Clinton unscathed.

After Clinton’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, surveys showed his job approval ratings shot up--to as high as 76% in a poll for NBC-TV.

Republicans, by contrast, have been taking a beating. A poll released this week by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that “the Democratic Party now enjoys a huge advantage over the Republicans” when it comes to handling the issues the public cares most about--education, Social Security, health care and even the mainstay GOP issue of tax cuts. The only issue on which Republicans outstripped Democrats in the public eye was morality.

The GOP’s overall approval rating has also suffered during the last year: According to the Pew survey, 41% disapproved of the job Republican leaders in Congress were doing in January 1998; 56% disapproved by the end of the year. That slipped down to 50% in Pew’s mid-January survey.

Republican pollsters, meanwhile, have found that the party’s stance on impeachment has eclipsed any other identity or message. Findings like that have helped prod GOP leaders in recent days to work overtime to promote their 1999 legislative agenda.

“The Republicans need to demonstrate to the country that they can do something other than impeach the president,” said Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster.

Some Republicans worry that the public will turn even more sour if they start calling witnesses and drag out the process.

“Are they noticing that they are paying a political price? Yes,” said Dan Meyer, who served as chief of staff to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). “Democrats are doing their best to extract every pound of flesh.”

One way Senate Democrats are trying to turn up pressure on the GOP is by keeping their troops in line for next week’s votes on dismissing the case and on whether to hear witnesses.

Although there are some Democrats who may stray--Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) is expected to vote against the motion to dismiss; Bob Graham (D-Fla.) has indicated he might vote to hear witnesses--Democratic leaders say they expect all but a handful of the party’s 45 senators to stick together on the key votes.

“That’s what we’re spending all our time on--getting everyone to hang together,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide.

“If it comes out on a partisan line . . . Republicans will go into the year 2000 being the party of impeachment,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said. “The message to the people is they will be the party that wants to drag this on.”

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Times staff writers Ronald Brownstein and Marc Lacy contributed to this story.