Ultimately, Americans get the President they deserve. Twice Bill Clinton was elected President. Twice there were warning bells ringing loudly about his personal character. In both cases enough voters looked for and found reasons to vote for him. Now, with the admission of indiscretion, many voters are insisting that he be held accountable for the very behavior they ignored when they elected him. The power to elect a President is awesome. It should not be taken as lightly as it was in 1992 and 1996.
Colleagues have criticized my last commentary because I argued against impeachment. They emotionally insist that "a criminal," "a person of low moral character," "a man with Clinton's political record," should not continue being President of the United States.
I ask them, where does it end? If Clinton goes, does that mean Al Gore becomes the next target? Shall we remove him for soliciting "hard money" instead of "soft money" during the 1996 campaign? What about the next elected President? What if the Congress does not like his political direction? Maybe they call him a leftist, a rightist, a communist, a Scientologist, and declare that some act of the President was criminal and grounds for impeachment.
ask this question of you, reader. When should the Congress substitute its judgment, about who shall be President, for the judgment of the voting public? If the public chooses an undeserving person for the office, aren't they entitled to have the services of a Bill Clinton? When should a minority get to decide who shall be President? These are very important questions, requiring thought.
My own elected State Representative resigned in 1997, less than a year into his first term in the Illinois House. Later I learned that my representative was considered to be a weak candidate for reelection by his Democrat leadership, he had voted against that leadership's advice, his campaign financing had been threatened, and his lucrative legal practice unexpectedly fell apart.
After his resignation, the political leadership confirmed their own choice as State Representative, substituting their judgment for the voters. It was a coup. The public swallowed it. The newspaper people knew the truth but didn't state it because "no one would go on the record." Six months later a few papers made noise about a business connection between the Rep. who resigned and the Democrat boss, but it went away without indictments.
Who decides about political leadership in America, the people or the political elite? Those of you who wish to remove Clinton ought to understand the precedent you are giving the political class. Once that class grows accustomed to choosing the President in place of the electoral majority, it will be hard if not impossible for average citizens to regain their influence.
Rather than focusing for the next year on impeaching Clinton, it would be better for citizens to spend their time finding and promoting a candidate for president.
Choose carefully. You may have to live with your choice.
Lee A. Presser
