Hindsight from The New Gun Week December 1, 1998
No One Can Deny Clinton Team Smarts
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive EditorThis column is being written the week the "impeachment" issue goes back on the front burner with the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee about to open its "investigation" with testimony from Independent Prosecutor Ken Starr.
In mid-summer, Republican strategists may have thought that the Clinton impeachment issue was a slam-dunk. They apparently were watching the scoreboard instead of the ball.
As the hearings open tomorrow, many Republicans are acting like a bunch of sheep in a pasture full of wolves. That thought they were going to have a good time, but their attention is now on election results and the polls. With good reason!
The Clinton strategists used the Starr report to Congress and the whole impeachment push to their advantage during the Nov. 3 elections. The limited GOP congressional political ads that focused on the impeachment backfired. Democrats who were supposed to lose, won. Republicans who were supposed to win, lost. Instead of losing seats in the House and Senate, the Democrats cut the already thin majority in the House to a narrow six votes and broke even in the Senate.Dems Play Offense
The Democrats defense was to take the offensive. They turned their liabilities into assets.
Sure, many readers will say the media is disposed to support the Clintons and the Democrats. But those people are forgetting how the media beat up on Clinton, especially with its unending and detailed hourly coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. And they may have forgotten that over 150 newspapers called for Clinton to resign.
They sure made most people realize that Clinton is a slime-ball pig, even to reporting that he was dallying with Monica as foreign leaders stood cooling their heels.
The nation as a whole agrees that what Clinton did is wrong. Even the Democrats in Congress agree, and most House Democrats voted for the impeachment inquiry in September.
The majority of the American people, and even most Democrats, also agree that Clinton should be punished. But they don't agree that the Republicans should use the impeachment process to overturn the 1996 presidential election.
Opinion polls through the late summer and fall continued to show that the people's personal view of Clinton was negative. At the same time they continued to support his national agenda, especially as it related to economic issues.
Hillary Clinton, viewed by many as a martyr in the Clinton scandal, spent more time on the campaign stump than her husband. She helped the party and its candidates raise campaign funds. She energized the Democratic base that turned out to vote; where the races were close, as in the California and New York Senate races, she helped provide the margin of victory.
The Democrats did intensive mailings and phone-banking to their constituents, especially key segments on the party's base. They spent millions delivering pre-taped phone appeals by Hillary Clinton where it would do the most good.Subliminal Message
Hillary Clinton was also sending a subliminal message: Bill may be a skunk in his personal life, but if I can stand by him, so can you.
This was clever politicking by people that have consistently shown their superior skill in the art of politics.
You can call some of it the "Wag the Dog" technique, but it worked in the elections and it is still working. Just weeks before the impeachment hearings, Clinton, however he may be viewed as a scumbag, got credit for forcing the warring Irish factions to speak with the British. A little later he got the credit for being a hard-headed peacemaker in getting an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. And just days before the hearings were to begin he got Saddam Hussein to back down at missile-point and accept further weapons inspections.
As the impeachment hearings begin, the lead witness, Ken Starr, has been made a target of people's anger. He is seen as a tool of the Republicans and a pornographer.
This has been part of the overall Democratic and White House strategy. Clinton himself may not be that smart, because if he was he would never have gotten himself into such a situation. But he is smart enough to listen to smarter and more clever people, most likely including Hillary. They got him into the White House. They got him re-elected. They helped him sell a lot of agenda items, including a lot of bogus gun control legislation. Small wonder that he listens to his strategists.
They used issues to their advantage. He's even exploiting the guns and crime issue again with his post-election announcement about screening non-dealer sales at gun shows and other public events.Like a Cat
Like a cat, he ends up on his feet no matter which way he falls. Here's another example to emphasize just how clever the Clinton crowd can be when they make full use of the built-in media access the presidency provides.
A recent Associated Press report from Washington, DC, provided the following news.
"A scholarship program for survivors of federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty will grow to include families of all public safety officials under legislation awaiting President Clinton's signature.
"In a White House ceremony planned this morning (Nov. 12) to trumpet his administration's crime-fighting effort, Clinton also was set to sign a bill stiffening penalties for federal criminals with firearms.
"The legislation imposes an additional seven-year sentence for brandishing or pointing a gun during a crime, and provides for an additional 10 years if a gun is fired during the crime.
"For subsequent offenses involving guns, the mandatory penalty is increased from 20 years to 25 years.
"The new law also seeks to put to rest a question debated in the courts. The law stipulates that the additional and mandatory federal five-year penalty for criminals who 'use or carry' firearms applies even if the criminal simply was in possession of a gun-locked in a car trunk or glove compartment, for example-during the commission of a violent crime or drug felony.
"The Police, Fire and Emergency Officers Educational Assistance Act of 1998 expands a federal program to provide college scholarships to the dependents of all public-safety officers-including police, firefighters, correctional officers, and rescue and ambulance squads-who are killed or incapacitated in the line of duty."Missing Information
What the story did not report because the White House was making the news, not the GOP, was that the bill he was taking credit for was one sponsored and passed by Republicans, in part as an alternative to more stringent gun laws that the White House had sought.
The Republicans in Congress were the driving force behind passage of the mandatory penalty enhancement for gun misuse and for the scholarship enhancement program for dependents of law enforcement and corrections personnel killed or incapacitated in the line of duty.
When he actually held the press conference in question, he was surrounded as usual with his chorus of grim-faced but supportive police chiefs, and cabinet members. The Republicans in Congress were not invited and got no credit for what they did, but that's the way things work in Washington, DC.
The cleverness of the Clinton crowd is thus emphasized. They take credit for what others do, and kick sand in their face at the same time.
Given this level of political skill, it is not surprising that some pundits are predicting that Hillary Clinton could be part of a 2000 presidential ticket called "Gore-Clinton." And it shouldn't surprise anyone if that ticket wins and the Clintons stay in Washington for another four to eight years.
They've all got the smarts to pull it off, even if Clinton does get a minor scolding in exchange for Lewinsky and a host of other serious transgressions that no one can pin on him.
The New Gun Week is published three times a month by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) on the 1st, 10th, and 20th. Hindsight is a commentary written by SAF President and Gun Week Executive Editor Joseph P. Tartaro. This commentary may be reprinted so long as credit is given to the author and the publication. For more information or to subscribe, write Gun Week, PO Box 488, Buffalo, NY 14209, or call 716-885-6408 Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, or inquire on Compuserve to John Krull, Production manager-JohnSAF@Compuserve.com or gunweeksaf@broadviewnet.netAlso, check out the New Gun Week at http://www.GunWeek.com