WHAT DID SHERRY SAY TODAY?

BETTER THAN TEFLON: Unflappable gov rolls with punches

It's hard to figure what it would take to really rattle Gov. Whitman. New Jersey politics is currently being driven by the presidential sex scandal and skyrocketing property taxes, issues over which she has little control, but the governor gamely wades into the fray.

She has been battered by her own Republican Party, which sometimes views her as a traitor, and second-guessed by legislative leaders who are also members of the GOP.

She's been denounced by feminists, even though she's the first woman to sit in the governor's chair and is frequently dismissed by New Jersey's cynical print media, which often characterizes her as a lightweight leader who represents the state's old money.

Whitman complains the newspapers frequently post her wins as losses.

"I like to throw ideas into the mix and I'm not as interested in the process as the outcome," Whitman said in an interview with The Trentonian late last week. But the governor says that the "gotcha" attitude of many in the New Jersey press corps turns every policy development into a win or lose confrontation.

Her triumph on the Open Spaces referendum was downgraded to a compromise. Her resolution of the 30-year impasse on educational issues surrounding New Jersey's poor school districts is judged as a defeat.

Whitman says she'd like a more open atmosphere for give and take in the public conversation about what is best for New Jersey, but that clearly doesn't mean she's not a fighter, or that you can't make her mad.

The news of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky so outraged Whitman that she called on him to resign after he admitted last summer that he had lied about it. Now that the president's approval ratings have soared higher than hers in New Jersey, Whitman stands by her position that Clinton took advantage of his office when he seduced Lewinsky.

"I argued with Eleanor Smeal (president of the National Organization for Women) for an hour about this," Whitman said. "They say Clinton is the best friend women ever had, which means that if you're good on policies affecting women then your relationships with individual women don't matter."

Whitman says that it will take "a decade at least" to undo the damage that Clinton has done to public thinking regarding women and honesty, particularly when it comes to teaching values to children.

"The idea that this was just about sex, or that sex wasn't even sex. I can't imagine trying to get that one by my father," Whitman said. "We can't tell our kids that it's OK to lie today if you say you're sorry tomorrow."

But Whitman has accepted that lots of things take decades.

"I remember how long it took us to get the state takeover of the county court systems," Whitman said. "That saved $240 million, and today it's treated as no big deal."

Whitman also noted her "much maligned pension bond sale saved municipalities $100 million this year in pension costs, but all we're hearing about is the $30 million increase."

She thinks that property tax reform will take a long time, too. "The victory is that we are at least talking about it," Whitman said. "You can't force this or you lose the ability to have the discussion."

In outspoken contrast to Democrats, who advocate more state aid to lower property taxes, Whitman has long been committed to municipal spending reductions as the true path to lower costs. She has provided incentives for towns to share services and advocates municipal and school mergers as a way to cut costs, even though she recognizes that such changes will require a dramatic sea change in thinking at the local level. Most people think it's impossible.

Still, the governor has found a percentage in taking the long view. Pronouncements of her political death came during her first term after her strong support of partial-birth abortion. But those reports have been rescinded recently as Republican ratings continue to plummet in response to the impeachment trial. Washington observers believe a socially liberal woman standing somewhere at the head of the GOP is one of the few things that can stop the fall and Whitman's national political currency has never been higher.

Here in New Jersey, Whitman dismisses the recent 17-point drop Republicans recently suffered in public opinion polls due to displeasure with their role in the impeachment trial.

"I don't think that ultimately people will make a hard link between what's going on in Washington and what we're doing in New Jersey. We have a good team here. We've put together a strong economy, and we've got a positive message."

It's hard to know what would really rattle Christie Whitman.

Sun., Jan. 31, 1999

PLAYING HARDBALL: These Knights weren't lady-like

Since the 1980's, feminists like Betty Friedan and Carol Gilligan have been offering up bogus but very scientific-looking data to suggest that women are actually "better" than men because we listen attentively, compromise and are less likely to get into fights. To hear them tell it, those of us born without a Y chromosome are genetically wired to make nice.

Fortunately, for folks who don't buy that line of bunk, there's women's basketball.

Last week, No. 4-ranked Connecticut beat Rutgers by one point in a game that was 40 minutes of nothing but unmitigated hard-wood combat on the part of the women involved.

Desite the defeat, it was a great night for Rutgers, which sold out the house for the first time in the 25-year history of the women's basketball program. They led the Huskies for most of the game.

Last year, when Rutgers defeated UConn during the regular season, pandemonium broke out on the floor. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma remarked back then that anytime anyone beat his almost always unbeaten team, they act as if they'd won a national championship.

Last week, when the Huskies squeaked past Rutgers, UConn guard Svetlana Abrosimova said it was like winning a national championship.

What a difference a year can make.

"We've always wanted to be the standard bearer for the Big East," Auriemma said last week, "and Rutgers has caught up awfully quick."

It doesn't seem that quick to Coach Vivian Stringer, who has been frustrated for the past several years with sparse crowds and the sometimes spotty production from her talented team.

The only woman's basketball coach to take two schools to a national championship, Stringer has been working since 1995 to move her team into that group she calls "the elites."

After Connecticut killed their chances for a big surge in the national rankings last week, Stringer said her team "blinked."

"Its not skills in a one-point game like this one," Stringer said. "It comes down to who's going to blink and we blinked."

Maybe so. But if Rutgers blinked, it was hard to tell until the final buzzer sounded. They never backed down.

Auriemma called his victory "a great win over a great team" and Stringer said that the sell-out crowd had seen "a great game."

There will be more great games in Piscataway. Rutgers players made it very clear that they won't be out-classed in the Big East again. UConn has been given a big heads-up that their standard-bearing days may be over.

None of the women on either team demonstrated any interest in compromising or making nice.

Friday, January 22, 1999

Its All Over

Nobody likes a sore loser. So I want to be among the first to admit that those of us who think Bill Clinton's lying and manipulation of justice should have gotten him fired have lost.

The impeachment trial is over. Clinton has won. The CBS News poll taken after Clinton's State of the Union addressed showed that 76 percent of Americans approve of the way he has handled his job.

The Republicans lost this fight so badly that they will never be able to attack Clinton on anything again.

They don't know yet how extensive the damages are. Republicans in Washington and New Jersey are still surveying the wreckage from the crash.

On Wednesday thousands (yes thousands) of Americans came out in Buffalo, New York to cheer the president and his wife. The crowd was described as "out of control" in expressing their enthusiastic affection for Clinton.

Those of us who understand how these "spontaneous" crowd things work know that lots of those folks were Democratic regulars and government workers, people who were more or less paid to be there.

But that doesn't account for everybody and it doesn't account for the enthusiasm.

People really do seem to like Clinton better now that they know he fools around and lies about it.

When questioned about the president, people frequently say that what they appreciate about him is that he is "human." The fact that he spotted a young woman at an official reception and invited her back to his office for a little quickie sex was not an incredible demonstration of bad judgement, they say, but something that was simply "human."

Sure it hurt everyone involved and resulted in lots of dishonesty, but most believe it could happen to anybody.

The American people have spoken and their message is that we should not be so hard on ourselves.

This "humanness" has made Clinton more loveable. Folks are overjoyed when they find out politicians have feet of clay.

Several years ago when former New York City mayor David Dinkins beat Ed Koch, polls showed that many New Yorkers liked Dinkins better after the news broke that he had cheated on his taxes.

Americans have known for a long time not to expect much from politicians. A Gannett News Service poll released over the weekend found that 82 percent of Americans believe that it is unacceptable for a politician to lie, but 59 percent said they believe that politicians lie more than the average person.

That's one of the messages the public has been trying to deliver about Clinton's impeachment all along. They know Clinton lied, but they don't think its a big deal because all politicians lie.

That's also why the Republicans are viewed by almost everyone as flaming hypocrites.

Last week's polls showed that twice as many Americans know who Larry Flynt is than can identify Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Flynt is seen as a hero for trying to expose the hypocrites, those Republicans who accuse Clinton of lying about sex but who must be doing the same thing, because the public is sure that they all do the same thing.

The fact that there are 284** Republicans in Congress, most of whom are men and Flynt hasn't exposed anybody yet except Bob Livingston hasn't shaken the firm American belief that when politicians are not making pompous speeches on C-SPAN, they're having illicit sex and lying about it.

Those of us in the 24 percent who believe that condoning the president's sexual behavior and his subsequent lying about it will result in move irresponsible and dishonest behavior on his part have lost the argument.

The "hardcore" opposition to the insistence by Clinton and his defenders that a little sex and lying on the side is nobody's business have been shouted down.

New Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli said on Wednesday, when it was obvious that the Impeachment Trial had shifted in Clinton's favor, that it was "the beginning of the end" of the proceedings.

New Jersey's politically astute senator was right on the money as usual. Clinton's exoneration, is the "beginning of the end" of a lot of things.

Men, in general, and politicians in particular, will no longer be held accountable for their behavior toward women, no matter how dishonest or destructive it is.

Bill Clinton's decision to take an intern half his age into his office for sex will not go down as a black mark against his character, just a foible in his personality. We know he has a weakness for Big Mac's and young women, but we don't care.

The 76 percent approval rating makes it clear that American's aren't judgmental about anybody's sex life.

The majority has spoken and their message is "so what."

"So what" is also the response to Clinton's lies and his manipulating other people to lie.

Thousands of cheering people gave him the wave in Buffalo on Wednesday.

It's time for those of us in the 24 percent who believe that honesty matters and that the way a man treats women is a reflection of his character to stop being so hard on the president.

Its over. So what. Nobody likes a sore loser.

Wed., Jan. 20, 1999

Prez fans shooting the moon

There's little doubt after last night's State of the Union speech that Bill Clinton's approval ratings will shoot up another 10 or 20 points this morning.

The president clearly understands something about what moves a big chunk of the American people.

It's not that the president appeals to the best in Americans. Most folks don't trust him and more than a few don't like him.

But he seems to speak to that place in all of us that longs to be relieved from worry and responsibility. He's like the president of Disneyland, a place where people are always smiling, Main Street is clean and nobody worries about money.

He gives hope that Americans, as individuals, and as a country, will all ultimately win the lottery. It must be wonderful to believe in Bill Clinton.

How safe it must feel to lay your head on the pillow at night assured that with Clinton at the helm, the budget surplus really will be invested in Social Security, Medicare will never go broke, new schools will be built, Johnny will finally learn to read and the minimum wage will go up another two dollars.

Rush Holt, the newly-elected Democratic Congressman from Hopewell Township, believes in Clinton. He told me before last night's speech that he thinks the secret of Clinton's success is that he talks about things that people care about.

"There's no mystery there," Holt said.

Holt also said that he was invited to the White House last week to discuss Clinton's proposal for day-care credits and was struck by the fact that they were developing a program to help 30 million working parents solve their after-school problem.

"At the same time they were debating whether or not the blue dress would be admitted into evidence on the floor of the Senate," Holt said.

Nobody cares about "blue dresses." Everybody cares about the poll-tested "ideas" that Clinton sold last night, even the Republican ones like school choice, long-term care and the tax credit for stay-at-home parents.

Joe Klein noted in his infamous novel about Clinton, "Primary Colors," that the president never has to pay the bill.

Clinton makes us believe that we won't have to pay it either.

In the world according to Clinton, kids will have summer school, teachers will be held accountable and parents will be empowered. Trade barriers will break down and business will lie down with labor as Clinton "puts a human face on the global economy."

Everything Clinton proposes, people love. He's returned Democrats to their old tax-and-spend ways but nobody cares. Yesterday's poll by the Pew Center showed that Americans trust Democrats over Republicans to deal with virtually every public policy issue.

Chickens are in every pot and despite huge budget surpluses, nobody is calling for tax cuts even though the Census Bureau reports that the average family pays 25 percent of their income for taxes. A family with an income of about $55,000 pays a little over 30 percent.

You'd think that would make people mad, but it doesn't.

Clinton even seems to be affecting the way people are thinking about all their money these days. For the first time since the 1930s, we've got a negative savings rate in this country -- people are spending more than they are earning.

During the Depression, people spent their assets because they had to. Today, people are cashing in their holdings for new cars and bigger houses because they believe there will always be more money where the last cash came from. People who don't have any assets are overspending too. Credit card debt is so high that many believe it is a threat to the overall economy.

What a great feeling it must be, knowing that there's no need to worry and that you'll never have to pay the bill.

It must be wonderful to believe in Bill Clinton.

MORALITY MATTERS & SO DOES TESTIMONY: Public's reaction sends wrong message

President Clinton must be made to testify at his impeachment trial. It's the only chance left to get the American public to understand how much is at stake.

The constant spin by the president and his defenders is that the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice which he faces are trivial, not the kind of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that should force him out of office.

They insist the trial is simply a partisan attack on Clinton. They say he's being persecuted for his private behavior.

But the impeachment trial is not really about Clinton's sleazy love life. That is trivial. What is really being decided in the Senate is how much value we Americans place on honesty and integrity.

The majority of the public is against kicking Clinton out of office. But if public opinion prevails, we will lower the standard for all time on what is acceptable by public officials, and ultimately everybody else.

If the Senate decides that it is OK for the president to cheat on his wife, lie about it under oath and get other people to help him cover it up, everyone else will have to be given a pass on that same kind of behavior.

This is America. The president doesn't get special privileges.

If the Senate lets Clinton off, it will change the basic principle of trust that businesses, government and communities operate on. A man or woman will no longer be expected to be as good as his or her word.

No one will be required to tell the truth if it might make them look bad.

If they let Clinton off, imagine how hard it will be to teach your children that lying is wrong.

If they let Clinton off, imagine how hard it will be to expect people to stand by their commitment to marital fidelity if they are presented with a particularly tempting option.

Lying will become a relative thing instead of an absolute value.

Adultery could be seen as a lifestyle choice, something everyone has the right to do.

And character, the wisdom to set high standards and the discipline to live by them, will be seen as a kind of old-fashioned prudishness that is no longer relevant in today's world.

People will start excusing themselves, as Clinton has done, by accusing anyone who holds them accountable of being judgmental and hypocritical.

Most of the folks who say they want the charges against Clinton to somehow just "go away" insist that we must rely on the "wisdom of the American people" who are bored to death with the trial.

But we Americans are not always all that wise. Every time I hear Clinton or some Democratic politician talk about "the wisdom of the American people" I think about the traffic tie-ups going into Delaware last spring when thousands of people were driving across the border to get Powerball tickets. Folks were stalled in traffic for hours and spent hundreds of dollars on lottery tickets even though they had almost no chance of winning any money.

We Americans are smart folks, but we can be awfully stupid at times. Our judgments are not infallible.

Americans make mistakes, and they've made a big one this time in pushing to let Clinton off for the crimes that he has committed in office.

Our standards aren't always so low. If Clinton had taken a bribe, even a small bribe, and lied about it, the country would be resolute in wanting him dismissed.

If Clinton had been telling racist jokes in the Oval Office, instead of having sex, he probably would have been forced out of office months ago.

Americans do not tolerate any kind of financial corruption or racist attitudes in our leaders. We know that if we do, it will send a message that financial corruption and racism are sometimes acceptable in the larger world. That's why we crack down hard.

But for some reason, people don't seem to be making the connection that ignoring Clinton's perjury and obstruction of justice will send a message to politicians and everyone else that it's OK to be dishonest if you're lying to save your skin.

Maybe if they see the way he lies about his lies, they'll finally get it.

There's been lots of talk about the great consequences to the country if we have to go through the "ordeal" of an impeachment.

It's too bad more people aren't worried about what the country will go through if we let Clinton off.

Friday, November 15, 1999

New Jersey Needs Some Real Fiscal Conservatives

      There's a lot of talk these days about the so-called "Clinton haters," the folks who despise the president not because of what he has done, but because of who he is...a Southerner, a draft-dodger, a philandering baby boomer. 
     In New Jersey there are people who view Gov. ChristieWhitman in the same jaundiced way. The "Whitman haters" see the governor only as a woman from a wealthy family who they believe is insensitive to the needs of regular people.
     Not long ago, a union representative told me that it was obvious that Whitman and her husband John are part of an international financial conspiracy working to drive down wages all over the world.
      Given that kind of rancid animosity, it is not surprising that some people react negatively to most anything Whitman does, even when she comes across with something as straight forward and impressive as the  billion dollar property tax rebate which she announced in her State of the State address on Tuesday.
     Democrats said the only thing they could say...too little, too late. They also charged her rebate was not "urban friendly" which must mean that someone actually believes that billion dollars would be better spent on one more big city program that would cost a lot and accomplish nothing.
     Whitman doesn't often let labor or urban special interests distract her. Unfortunately, the fact that her critics are almost always on the left means that she is rarely challenged by anyone demanding that she act more like a fiscal conservative.
     The property tax rebate is terrific, but folks seriously interested in reducing the size of government know that it would be cheaper to just to cut the taxes that people must pay in the first place.
     A dollar for dollar property tax credit on state income taxes would be a good place to start, even though that wouldn't reduce property tax spending, an area where Whitman has had virtually no luck.
     There is no way to reduce property taxes without backing down the teachers unions and regaining control of the public schools. Neither Whitman or the Republican controlled Legislature has made any moves in that direction. Until they do, property taxes will remain sky high.
     Whitman has initiated a number of initiatives to reduce state spending, but most have been disappointing. 
     Her decision last year to privatize the Dept. of Motor Vehicles by giving a contract to Parsons Infrastructure and Technology Group, a company that could not guarantee much of a cost savings for taxpayers, was particularly bad. It gave lots of ammunition to her union critics who will undoubtedly use Parsons as a bad example the next time she moves to get rid of over- priced state workers and replace them with private sector workers whose wages are more in line with the folks who are putting up the tax dollars for their salaries. 
     When Whitman releases her new budget later this month, she will undoubtedly talk about all the money she is saving. Her staff will compare her initiatives to her Democratic predecessor, Jim Florio and insist that if he were governor, the budget would be several billion dollars higher than it is now.
     They're probably right about that, but its not good enough.      What would be a true triumph for fiscal conservatives and the overburdened New Jersey taxpayer is an announcement by Whitman's office that the budget for the year 2000 is less than the budget for 1999...say five percent less.
     If Whitman further pledged that by the time she leaves office in 2001 that the budget would be ten percent less than it is now, there would be dancing and jubilation in the streets.
     Of course, that's not going to happen.  Whitman may well be the most fiscally conservative Republican in New Jersey, but she has not been able to change the basic assumptions that keep New Jersey tax bills astronomical.  In her best moments, Whitman has asked all the right questions:  Why do we have so many municipal governments and school boards?  Why are their labor costs so high? Why can't they consolidate?  Why can't the private sector take over a broad range of the services currently being provided by government?  
     But nobody has paid much attention to her because of the "political realities" which dictate that tax cash continues to flow to local politicians. The "reality" part is that local politicians then do their part by making sure that the people who keep the money coming get re-elected.
     In other moments, Whitman is part of the problem, selling lots of bonds and tying up taxpayers with a debt load that will haunt us for years to come.
     Former libertarian gubernatorial candidate Murray Sabrin likes to tell a story about being asked in a public forum to explain how his support for limited government, lower spending and lower taxes made him different from a Republican.
     "I mean it," Sabrin said, and the crowd erupted in applause.
     Sabrin is joining the Republican party today and says he's going to run for the U.S. Senate next year. That's probably good. New Jersey could use a Republican who means it.

Checks could kick-start GOP

|Larry Weitzner, the fuzzy-haired, hard-boiled Republican political strategist from Princeton, was feeling lots better yesterday after Gov. Whitman promised $1 billion in property tax relief in her State of the State speech.

In the cold days before Christmas, Weitzner was clearly depressed.

Scarfing down a steaming chicken parmigiana sandwich at Lorenzo's, Weitzner said back then that he was having no luck convincing Republicans that the fallout from the Clinton impeachment trial could be so devastating that it could be felt in New Jersey in this year's Assembly races.

Weitzner prescribed a hefty property tax relief program -- a direct check from Republicans to the voters -- to ward off angry anti-Republican voters, but New Jersey Republicans weren't that worried. Despite the fact that Clinton had easily won the state both times he ran, Whitman had been carrying on her own personal campaign against Clinton's "moral compass gone haywire." New Jersey Republicans believed they were insulated against a backlash against the GOP right wing because Whitman and the Republican legislative leaders are social liberals.

Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, carefully avoided judgments during the impeachment trial and State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic City, who may run against U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg next year, said he supported censure for Clinton.

Even the shell shock from the November elections, including record low Republican showings in DiFrancesco's home county, the defeat of former Rep. Mike Pappas, R-Rocky Hill and the skewering of Rep. Bob Franks, R-Union, for his impeachment vote, didn't sink in at first.

Recalling his early winter doldrums yesterday, Weitzner said all he met was resistance when he tried to convince his clients, including Assembly Republicans, that a huge tax rebate would be necessary to override public anger at what the majority views as a GOP vendetta against Clinton.

"But it seems like the message has gotten through," Weitzner said.

Yesterday, Whitman announced a billion-dollar property tax rebate, which will result in checks of about $600 a household statewide. Whitman promised that if the Legislature passes her proposal before April 15, she'll get the checks in the mail by Labor Day.

Labor Day is the official campaign start for the Assembly races.

There is little doubt that the Legislative leaders have already said yes to Whitman's ideas and that DiFrancesco and Assembly Speaker Jack Collins, R-Salem, have become believers in a possible pending Republican disaster.

"Republican favorability ratings are at their lowest point since Watergate," Weitzner said. "The only way to transcend that is with local issues and this is a good issue."

Weitzner said that he had not spoken with the governor directly but said he had spoken with a number of legislators.

"They kept telling me that the rebate couldn't be done," Weitzner said, "but it looks like they found a way to do it."

Whitman spokesman Jayne O'Connor said that the governor was not worried about how the Republicans might fare in Assembly races later this year, but admitted that the governor has been in consultation with DiFrancesco and Collins over the past several days to enhance their collaborative efforts.

"The governor and the Legislature have a strong record and we believe voters are pleased with the way things are going in New Jersey," O'Connor said.

O'Connor also said that Whitman and the legislative leadership have both had ideas about property taxes and now they have agreed to work together and make them a priority.

In her State of the State address last year, Whitman aggressively went after wasteful municipal budgets and principal tenure, but the Legislative leaders didn't back her up.

Yesterday, she demonstrated a more conciliatory tone. She also backed off her criticism of DiFrancesco's proposal to link state municipal aid to a cost of living increase and announced that he would support Collins' plan to raise the income threshold for people who exempt from state taxes.

Weitzner said yesterday the property tax rebate will "put an extra shine" on Whitman's "national image as a tax cutter" and that he is more optimistic about Republican chances in the Assembly elections, particularly if the impeachment trial winds down soon.

"There's nothing like a check in the mail to convince voters to stick with Republicans," Weitzner said, "particularly if they know where it comes from."

January 10th, 1999

Libby and Christie: The Non-Testosterone Ticket

Republicans have never been in a bigger slump. Used car dealers have a better approval rating.

     Last week, their approval ratings fell to an all-time low because of their role in Bill Clinton's impeachment. Only about 32 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP.

     Democrats have done a terrific job of painting Republicans as a bunch of prudish old white guys who are out of touch with the real lives of regular people.

     The weary Republican strategists who are trying to figure out how to get their team back on top again can be heard talking more and more these days of a about the only strategy many believe will bring them a win--put a woman on the ticket.

     There's never been a woman elected to either one of the top jobs and it might be just what the GOP needs to overcome its white guys only image and get themselves back in the White House.

      Lots of Republicans are thinking this way. That's why New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman's name has remained on the potential presidential candidate list even though she regularly denies any interest in higher office.

     That's also why Elizabeth Dole's announcement last week that she was leaving the Red Cross created such a stir. If her job change really was a signal that she is going to launch a presidential campaign, then Republican politics might become interesting again.

     But if the GOP really wants to knock people's socks off, there's no reason to stop with a one woman campaign.

     Why not make it two? What about Whitman-Dole or Dole- Whitman?

     It works either way.

     Both women would provide Republicans with broad geographic appeal. Whitman's northeast liberal credentials could help bring back the suburban Republicans from the industrial states. Dole's southern roots would bring in the party's base.

     Whitman's clear and no nonsense style would provide the perfect balance to Dole, who can be a little to southern and mushy in her approach to policy issues.

     Conversely, Dole's easy going "Oprah Winfrey" approach to folks could help balance the coldish distance that some people experience from Whitman.

     And obviously, Whitman's political skill, her tough campaign experience and her track record at governing would help offset Dole's weak resume when it comes to holding office and electorial politics.

     The last woman to run for one of the top jobs was Democrat Geraldine Ferraro who ran for Vice President in 1984. Lots of women cringed recently when Ferraro begged Rep. Tillie Fowler, R-South Carolina, to forgive the president and vote against impeachment last month saying "a man is a man is a man."

     But even some scientists acknowledge there is some basic truth in Ferraro's statement.

     Robert Wright, author of "The Moral Animal" wrote recently in Slate Magazine that philandering in male politicians may be genetic. "The evolution-bred hunger for power is built into men generally," Wright wrote. He also believes, "the average woman will surrender less principal for power than the average man."

     Wright says the solution to the difference is obvious: "If you want officials who put principals ahead of power, voting for women gives you better odds."

     There's a good chance that a public soon to be experiencing forgiveness fatigue, might buy Wright's proposition if it promised relief from the threat of another leader showing up on Larry Flynt's list.

     Whitman spokesman, Pete McDonough, said for the thousandth time last week that "although the governor believes more women should seek a spot in the White House," she is not running for president.

     But an elderly supporter told me a story recently about running into Whitman and praising her outspoken criticism of President Clinton's shoddy office behavior.

     "Why don't you put on a pair of pants, go down to Washington and kick those Democrats out of office," the old guy told the governor.

     He reported that Whitman smiled and said confidently, "I don't need a pair of pants to do that."

     Exactly.

Who's "Mean-Spirited?"

     As we launch into phase two of impeachment, I'm still trying to figure out who the "mean-spirited" Republicans are.

     Polls show that many of the folks who support President Bill Clinton say that even though they don't totally condone his behavior, they believe that he and his Democratic party are the preferable alternative to the "mean-spirited" Republicans.

     Fair enough. Nobody likes meanies. But who are they talking about?

     Newt Gingrich? Even though he's almost gone, he symbolized meanness to a lot of people. However, when he appeared on Jay Leno's show earlier this week, I was reminded of how easy and even-handed he is, particularly when talking about Democrats. I've seen him speak dozens of times and he never spouts vitriol or anything approaching meanness.

     Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., also appears to be a pretty easy-going guy. Even when he uttered his now famous comparison of gay people and kleptomaniacs, he did not suggest hauling either group off to jail.

     Republican hit man Rep. Tom Delay, R-California, reportedly the most rabid anti-Clinton hater in the Congress, never slams personal judgments against the president.

     He thinks perjury is an impeachable offense. He wants a trial and he seems to believe that the facts will indicate that the president should be removed from office.

     That's his point of view. Folks may agree or not. But its hardly a personal attack.

     Here in New Jersey, Democrats are also portraying Republicans who voted for impeachment as part of the "mean team." The guy who least fits the "mean-spirited" description is Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Twp., Smith first called for Clinton's impeachment over a year ago when he examined the president's alleged role in technology transfers to the Chinese. Smith is an expert on totalitarian regimes and he believes that the fallout from Clinton's foreign campaign contributions that are linked to China could put our country at a dangerous risk.

     That assessment may or may not be accurate, but it is not personal and it is not mean.

     Ironically, earlier this week Clinton  continued his campaign to demonstrate that he is "taking care of the country's business" by pledging support for a long-term care tax credit for people who take care of their elderly family members.

     Support for this legislation seems is obviously designed to show that the president is empathetic with those who are burdened with the high costs of caring for aging family members, even though the actual tax credit won't make a lot of difference to the poorest care givers who really need it. Still, ever little bit helps and Clinton obviously believed it was worth a shot.

     Smith believed it was worth a shot too. That's why he helped craft and pass the long term care tax credit bill in 1995, only to have it vetoed by Clinton as part of his response to the "Contract with America."

     That's the "mean-spirited" Contract with America, in case you forgot.

     So when Clinton acts on it, its suddenly caring and compassionate. If the Republicans do it, its "mean-spirited."

     Meanwhile, Democrats aren't held accountable for their personal attacks on Republicans, no matter how vicious they get.

      Boston Globe writer, Jeff Jacoby, writes a column annually collecting the personal attacks which liberals hurl at conservatives with no resulting fallout.

     Jacoby points to former Democratic senator Carol Mosely Braun's charge last year that conservative columnist George Will is a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

     "George Will can just take his hood and go back to wherever he came from," Mosely Braun said.

     Will had written about Mosely Braun's misuse of funds while she was in office.

     Democrat Tom Lantos essentially called Republicans "Nazi's" when he said the vote blocking a censure of Clinton was something that would be expected "in Hitler's parliament."

     Jacoby notes that Special Prosecutor Ken Starr, who is another symbol of Republican "mean-spiritedness" has also been likened to Nazi's by a number of people including liberal commentator Keith Olbermann and actress Vanessa Redgrave. Anybody who actually sat down and watched Starr's day long testimony before the House Judiciary Committee must have noticed that there were no personal attacks or personal value judgments in the case Starr presented.

      Starr believes that perjury is against the law and getting others to lie for you is obstruction of justice. 

     That's his opinion. Its not a personal attack. He's a lawyer. He's a stickler for the rules.

     Democrats have a different opinion. They believe the rules should be relaxed in the case of sex.

     That's a probably a fair position too even though Democrats don't usually take it if a Republicans is a target. They had no trouble personally attacking Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas because he liked to talk about porno movies. Here in New Jersey Democrats continue to try and use the unproven charges of sexual harassment against State GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian to discredit Gov. Christie Whitman even though Haytaian's accuser has much less credibility than Paula Jones.

     Wonder why nobody thinks that's "mean-spirited?" 

State GOP leaders to lunch in Texas

It's a long way to go for a Texas steak, but Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic City, confirmed yesterday that he and several other New Jersey Republican legislative leaders are having lunch in Austin today with Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Bush, the son of the former president, is widely perceived to be the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000.

State House sources confirmed late yesterday that Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Union, and Assembly Speaker Jack Collins, R-Salem, hopped a direct flight to the Texas capital last night in order to be on hand for a two-hour session with Bush today.

Assemblyman Richard Bagger, R-Union, Assemblyman Joe Kyrillos, R-Middlesex and Bergen County Executive Pat Schuber were also scheduled to join Gormley and the legislative leaders on the Texas trek.

Gormley said that his visit with Bush was arranged through their mutual friend, Rich Bond, a national Republican political strategist.

"I wanted to meet him [Bush] and see what he's like first hand," Gormley said. "Rich set up the meeting."

Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes said yesterday that the New Jersey legislators had requested the private luncheon session.

Hughes said that Bush "frequently meets with legislators from other states."

"We know New Jersey's legislative elections are coming up, and they may want help with that," Hughes said.

But Hughes downplayed any connection between the meeting with New Jersey's Republican power players and the next presidential election.

"Its very hard for Gov. Bush to do anything these days and not be asked that question," Hughes said.

N.J. Senate Majority spokeswoman Rae Hutton said that the political trip was not initiated by any of the legislators, but said she was unaware of how it had been arranged. She also said she had no information about the agenda for the meeting.

Gov. Whitman, who is also sometimes mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2000, did not know that the New Jersey legislators were flying south yesterday.

When asked if Whitman was going to Texas, her spokesman, Pete McDonough, quipped, "no, the governor is cutting taxes."

McDonough said that Whitman had dinner with Bush last month, but no Texas trips are on her current schedule.

Gormley said he was making the trip in order to make an assessment of Bush's potential as a presidential candidate.

"First I would want to know if he understands the needs of a state like New Jersey," Gormley said. "I will also assess his potential to win here."

Gormley noted that Bush's father was very popular here, although New Jersey voters chose Bill Clinton over the elder Bush in 1992.

Gormley said he was particularly impressed with Bush's strong education agenda and his outreach to Hispanic voters.

New Jersey's Republican lawmakers control both houses of the legislature and are sticklers about maintaining a political power base that is independent of both the governor and the GOP state committee. As recently as last month, their attorneys contended in federal court that the primary reason for the establishment of legislative leadership political action committees with more generous contribution guidelines was to maintain legislative independence.

Some New Jersey GOP strategists are also concerned that anti-impeachment sentiment against Republicans could trickle down to the local level in this November's Assembly elections.

The New Jersey Republicans are scheduled to return to the Garden State tonight.

Chicken Soup is Not Enough

My eighty-something parents waved goodbye to me last week, standing in front of their modest house on the cold Oklahoma prairie. As I watched them slowly shuffle back inside, I recalled the theory that has been tossed about lately about the weakness of my generation and
the great strength of their's.  Some folks are putting forth the notion that we baby boomers have become soft and undisciplined because we have never faced any real challenges.  My father fought on three continents and in five theaters of war to make sure that the world was safe from tyranny in general and Hitler in particular. Both he and my mother lived through those now legendary years in the early 1930's when there really wasn't enough to eat, at least not in the Oklahoma dust bowl.

Nothing I've faced has been nearly as daunting. Even those of us who have moved up from the working class into the middle-class, like President Bill Clinton, have had it relatively easy. The "soft baby boomer theory" people suggest that the reason Clinton has so little moral muscle now is that he has avoided all the tough choices in his life, including Viet Nam and marital fidelity.

They think our generation is willing to let him off because we are all self-involved and undisciplined. The president is obviously not the only person who has made his personal gratification a high priority.
Philosophically, baby boomers collectively rejected the self-sacrifice model of the World War II generation. Instead, we've come to see putting others first as some kind of mental hang-up. Much of the baby boomer generated pop psychology that we read and see on T.V. is aimed at making self-indulgence a positive character trait.

On the last day of the New Jersey Legislative session this year in the spirit of reconciliation, one of the party leaders, who is also a baby boomer, distributed copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul to every lawmaker.

There are many messages in this popular book, but the primary thesis is to be easy on yourself. Don't judge too harshly. Self-discipline is over-rated and out of fashion. The "chicken soup" is to give yourself a break.

As if we needed a break. A break from what? We are in an economic boom and our country is leading the world in virtually everything.

Unemployment is at record lows and both murder and poverty rates have dropped dramatically. We don't really know why, but no one is
claiming that these changes are the result of hard work or some clearly defined plan.

But what is odd about this ease in our lives in the end of the nineties is that it isn't satisfying. We seem to be longing for more. Everybody is itching for a real struggle between good and evil.

Last year, only hours after an African-American church burned down in Manville, near the town where I live, I was barraged with phone calls. People who didn't attend the church or live anywhere near here were absolutely convinced that the fire was the result of a racist act.

They had heard that the mostly white-ethnic, working class community of Manville was actually a hotbed of seething racism. Hundreds arrived on the scene. Folks were proclaiming outrage, but not surprise, that such a thing could happen. This confirmed what they thought they knew about the ugly racism that is supposedly bubbling under the surface of poor white communities. Here among the charred beams of this lost church was absolute proof.

Pledging money and legal help, they were all ready to battle this great evil...only it wasn't there.

It only took a few days to confirm that bad wiring had caused the fire.
The outraged reluctantly sighed, "never mind."

Many of the strong feelings surrounding the current great divide over the president's misbehavior are also rooted in the desire to confront evil. The president's supporters view the "mean-spirited Republicans" as an evil force. Clinton himself says his opponents are operating under a "dark impulse." Conversely, the president's critics believe that condoning his ugly behavior could tarnish our nation's soul. 

The strength of the true believers on both sides of this issue indicates that they are sure they are battling the forces of evil. People are so anxious to sign up for a fight that matters that they are willing to see evil, even when it isn't there.

Baby boomers who know what our parents accomplished are aware that we have never been faced with anything that comes close to that kind of challenge. Even our struggles to stop the Viet Nam war and force integration took place in relative comfort.

As we begin the year that will close out the millennium, "chicken soup" is not enough for our baby boomer souls. Most of us seem to be longing for real solid food.

Thurs., Dec. 31, 1998

CRYSTAL POL: 20 political predictions for upcoming year

This past year has been full of political surprises, especially for those of us who are presumptuous enough to make political predictions. How could we have known last December what Monica Lewinsky had hanging in her closet?

For those who are keeping score, I must confess that I missed the boat on more than the president's office love life.

My prediction that the New Jersey Supreme Court would keep demanding that the state cough up more money for urban schools was happily wrong. Gov. Whitman won what may be the defining victory of her tenure when the Supremes finally said that enough is enough when it comes to state spending on poor schools.

I also was obviously wrong when I predicted that Rep. Mike Pappas would be re-elected and that the state Legislature would vote themselves a fat pay raise.

But I was right that Whitman's property tax reform commission proposals would go nowhere and that there would be no movement toward school choice in New Jersey this year.

I predict both of these issues will hit the same brick walls in 1999. Here's the rest of the 1999 forecast:

1. The New Jersey Assembly Republicans will figure out some way to send a property tax relief check directly to voters before they come up for re-election in November.

2. Christie Whitman will have George W. Bush to New Jersey for a big dinner, putting to rest all the silly gossip that she and the Texas governor aren't good friends.

3. Both Sen. Frank Lautenberg and former gubernatorial candidate Jim McGreevey will announce wedding plans.

4. Bill Bradley will lose 40 pounds, but the former Princeton hoops star will not raise enough money to challenge Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination.

5. Mercer County Executive Bob Prunetti will propose the construction of a monorail connecting the new Mercer County arena in Trenton with Washington Township. Lots of new jobs will be created.

In an unrelated development, Prunetti will be re-elected.

6. The Conservative Party will win their federal lawsuit against the Legislative Leadership Political Action Committees which will eliminate the million-dollar legislative races that are becoming all too common and reduce the influence of special interests in statewide politics.

7. Democratic party bosses State Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, and Hudson Executive Robert Janiszewski will pretend to end their long-standing feud this year.

8. Michael Pappas will sing again.

9. Former representative Richard Zimmer will block out all other Republican contenders who are considering a challenge to the newly elected 12th District congressman, Rush Holt.

10. The Senate will not vote to impeach President Clinton. Senator Bob Torricelli will play a key role in negotiating a censure agreement.

11. The New Jersey Turnpike's plan to control truck traffic by reducing truck tolls during off-peak hours won't work. Truck traffic will continue to increase on routes 206 and 31.

12. State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrence, and State Sen. Peter Inverso, R-Hamilton, will continue doing good stuff that only The Trentonian will notice.

13. State Sen. President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, will get his proposal to link municipal aid to the inflation rate passed thereby virtually assuring that he will have no challengers for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2001.

14. Doug Palmer will figure out what he wants to do next.

15. Principal tenure will not be abolished and Gov. Whitman will have no success eliminating "golden parachutes" of lifetime sick pay payments to municipal workers.

16. Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Township, will rescue more human rights demonstrators in far-off places.

17. The newly privatized Department of Motor Vehicles will run into problems when they attempt to implement the more rigorous, enhanced vehicle inspection system. The state workers will insist they could have done it better.

18. Auto insurance rates will go down for some people and not for others.

19. New Jersey's ban on partial-birth abortion will be upheld on its next appeal.

20. If the public remains mad at the Republican Congress for impeaching Clinton, New Jersey Democrats could win enough seats in the November elections to gain control of the State Assembly. If they don't, they won't.

Happy New Year.

December 27, 1998

Jersey GOP Say no Backlash

     At holiday parties around Trenton this past week, Democrats were frequently toasting with bright predictions for their political future.

     Many Democrats believe that public outrage at the Republicans in Congress for impeaching the president will cause voters to start putting  Democrats in office, beginning with next year's Assembly elections.

     Democratic strategist, Mark Mellman, who polls for both of New Jersey's U.S. senators and several Democratic congressmen here said during the impeachment vote that Republicans "were digging their own graves" in pushing for the president's removal.

     Jersey Republicans were quick to dismiss the idea of a backlash but admit its too soon to tell how voters will ultimately respond to the big impeachment story.

     State GOP Chairman, Chuck Haytaian, said "Republicans paid a price in the New Jersey elections in 1974 because Nixon was a Republican. Now Republicans are supposed to pay again because Clinton's a Democrat? All logic is gone."

     But Haytaian admits that anti-impeachment sentiment could energize Democratic voters and result in Republican defeats because Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state. Still, he says its too early to speculate about next year's elections.

     "I don't think there will be a backlash personally," Haytaian said. "But if that's the price you pay for voting your conscience, so be it."

     Tom Wilson, the Republican strategist who directed Christie Whitman's campaign, thinks anti-Republican sentiment regarding impeachment will die down quickly if the Senate decides to censure Clinton.

     "The Democrats are ready to sign onto a censure and that will be bi-partisan," Wilson said.  "We all agree on the crime, we just disagree on the punishment."

     State Sen. Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, predicted before the impeachment vote that any anti-GOP sentiment will be "quickly forgotten," and that Republicans who voted to impeach the president would pay no price back home.

     But Democrats insist they can keep the issue alive by calling Republicans like Rep. Bob Franks, R-Union, "hypocritical" for voting for impeachment and then supporting a Senate censure.

     Franks, who repeatedly called on Clinton to admit perjury before the vote so that the censure instead of impeachment could have been put in place, said Democratic predictions of anti-Republican sentiment are off the mark.

     "The huge backlash from impeachment found more people watching the Jets game here in New Jersey than were watching the impeachment vote on T.V.," Franks said.

     The central Jersey congressman also believes something like the "Carter-Ford" censure proposal would allow  a quick resolution so  Congress could move on "to more relevant issues."

     Franks believes that people are "truly divided" over the issue, but he says Republicans will gain from having taken the "unpopular position that no one, not even the president, is above the law."

     Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Twp., who voted for impeachment, thinks the public will ultimately see the Republican point of view on impeachment.

     "As more information gets out, they will see the justification for this vote," Smith said. "When you add it all up its hard not to conclude that perjury and obstruction of justice didn't occur and that it was premeditated."

     Larry Weitzner, a Republican strategist who is working with Assembly candidates next year believes that impeachment could result in an anti-Republican backlash if it continues to drag out.

     "The public has determined that Clinton is a liar, a cheater, a creep and a crook, but despite that he's doing a good job in office and they don't want him removed," Weitzner said.

     Weitzner believes that the best antidote to a Republican backlash in next year's Assembly races is a strong, Republican driven legislative agenda in 1999.

     Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic City, a moderate Republican who many believe is poised to announce a run against Sen. Frank Lautenberg next year, believes that GOP candidates who have demonstrated that they are not "captives of the far right" will not have a backlash problem.

     Gormley says he would have supported censure if he'd been in Congress and believes that ultimately, "the moderate view will hold sway" in Washington.

     Peter McDonough, a spokesman for Gov. Christie Whitman, says that even if some Republicans experience a backlash, it won't trickle down to the New Jersey Assembly races.

     "The Republicans won't be in any trouble with the elections next year. The legislature has frozen property taxes for seniors and people are happy about the way things are in New Jersey," McDonough said.

     Strong Democratic gains in municipal and Congressional races in the November elections had some Assembly Republicans nervous even before the impeachment vote. There were murmurings that the failure of Speaker Jack Collins to define a strong and definitive Republican legislative agenda might weaken the party's showing next year.

     But Haytaian says the talk of doom is all coming from Democrats.

     "I think that's what Democrats are hoping for," Haytaian said. "But people will vote their Assembly representatives up or down based on the record, which is good."

     McDonough also said Democratic talk of a backlash is "silly" because the truth of the impeachment story is not over yet.

     "The real backlash may come when they find out we didn't accomplish anything in Baghdad," McDonough said.

December 25, 1998

Clinton Must Forgive Too

This Christmas morning marks one of the strangest holiday seasons in recent years.

There's nothing quite like the impeachment and pending Senate trial of a president to cause folks to stop and consider the true meaning of the season.

As an Episcopalian who celebrated mass last night in a church that has been estranged from Roman Catholicism since Henry VIII wanted a divorce, I am particularly aware that the Christian faith's mandate of reconciliation isn't always easy.  But Episcopalians sometimes say jokingly that in a church that was founded by a man with six wives, forgiveness goes without saying.

Christian teaching is very clear on the issue of forgiveness. There is absolutely nothing that we are not supposed to forgive. The very human failings of William Jefferson Clinton don't even come close to presenting a moral dilemma on that score.

He is forgiven.

Punishment and upholding the rule of law are still under discussion in the U.S. Senate, but for people who practice faith, not just Christians, the forgiveness is already in place.

The recent statements by members of Congress indicate that they are likely available for the reconciliation that Hillary Rodham Clinton called for on the eve of her husband's impeachment.

Though Democrats have gone to great lengths to demonize the Republicans, anyone who listens to their actual statements will not find much rancor in them. Even fighters like House Whip Tom Delay and Majority Leader Dick Armey are most often magnanimous. They'd clearly like to stop the political hemorrhaging that is resulting from their looking like demons.

But Clinton and the folks on his side don't seem nearly as ready to forgive. The president, his wife and his inside defenders feel so strongly that they have been wronged by the impeachment affair and they seem unwilling to forgive anybody.

Clinton told a reporter last weekend that he believes his enemies are motivated by the dark side.

At a White House Christmas party, Clinton told a Los Angeles Times reporter that he has believed throughout the scandal that those who were attacking him weren't exactly "evil,"  but they were acting out of a "dark" impulse.

Clinton said that it has been his job to be the force of light and to avoid fighting with his allies.

If he did, he said, the light would mix with black and everything would become gray.

This clearly reveals that our president has been watching too many "Star Wars" movies.

But it also makes it easy to understand why he was so unwilling to take the relatively small steps he was asked to take in order to spare himself and the country from the impeachment mess.

Tons of moderate Republicans would have gladly stood up for the president if he would have only said he was sorry for abusing the system and not telling the truth under oath. Many, including New Jersey's Bob Franks, R-Union, contacted the president directly with middle of the road suggestions of ways to acknowledge wrong-doing without groveling.

All that was required was that Clinton show some respect for the integrity of the Republicans who were challenging him. Even if he truly believed they had charged him falsely, if he would have forgiven (or even pretended to have forgiven them) we could have moved on.

He hasn't done that yet. He thinks the only people who should apologize are Republicans.

This arrogant and persistent attitude of Clinton's so outraged many Republicans that they believed they had no choice but to move forward with impeachment.

Clinton also told the Los Angeles Times reporter that he has tried not to hate his enemies because he believes that harboring hatred can be damaging.

Still, he refuses to take the next step toward forgiveness.

In judging the way the president thinks about forgiveness, it is useful to look at both Clintons. U.S. News and World Report writer, Gloria Borger, observed earlier this year that one way the Clintons keep their marriage together is to unite around their common enemies.

For all their self-inflicted problems, the Clinton's ultimately believe that people are out to get them. Their shared enemies keep them together.

Many think that the president's high popularity ratings are also rooted in the belief that the president has not been treated fairly.

That could be another reason why Clinton has been so reluctant to forgive the Republicans he loathes.

If the whole country has nobody to hate, what might happen to him? Might he be able to exert genuine leadership and allow a real reconciliation over this rancorous issue to take place?

Forgiveness, as Christ taught, can be a very powerful thing.

Merry Christmas.

Sherry ranks Capital City's best dressed

Whoever said "to look sharp is to be sharp" never saw the New Jersey State Legislature in session. Unspeakable fashion crimes are committed daily in both houses.

In a community-based effort to spruce up the Capital City, The Trentonian fashion police have decided to raise the State House fashion standard by recognizing those legislators who clearly have taken a few moments out from reading property tax reform proposals to thumb through an issue of GQ. We're hoping they will serve as role models.

The 1998 First Annual Trentonian Best Dressed Legislator list automatically begins with Assemblyman Leroy Jones, D-East Orange. Jones was the unanimous best-dressed choice of our fashion judges and received bi-partisan support from his colleagues.

From his suspenders to his wing tips, Jones displays a distinctively sense of personal style and color that makes a fashion statement. Jones believes dressing for success is essential and it shows.

On the other side of the aisle, Flemington Assemblyman Leonard Lance brings the quiet classy confidence that only comes with perfectly fitted dark suits and understated ties. If you look up Rockefeller Republican in the dictionary, you'll find Lance's picture.

In the Senate, Joe Vitale makes dressing well look easy. Vitale took over the spiffy Jim McGreevey's old Senate seat so perhaps he made some back room party deal to uphold the fashion standard.

Hamilton Assemblyman Paul Kramer experiments with colors more than most Republicans and it works. Fashion standards are higher in Mercer County because Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer and Mercer County Executive Bob Prunetti are among the best dressed politicians anywhere. But Kramer manages to keep up. So does Sen. Peter Inverso, even though he is an accountant.

No one would ever mistake the dapper Sen. John Lynch, D-New Brunswick, for an accountant. Lynch is a power dresser who tops it off perfectly by pretending not to know how good he looks. Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Rice, D-Newark, brings a hipper, urban look to the upper house and serves as a reminder that New Jersey isn't an entirely suburban state.

The state has 19 women legislators including the trend setting Assemblywomen Nia Gill, D-Montclair, the ultra-tasteful Charlotte Vandervolk, R-Montvale, and the sheik Barbara Buono, D-Metuchen. New Jersey's women legislators dress so well that if we included them, none of the men would win, so we had to leave them out.

Senate President Don DiFrancesco made the fashion statement of the year by trading his clunky glasses for contacts and throwing out his old ties. All he needs now is a platform and he's ready to run for governor.

No one knows what Sen. John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, aspires to, but it doesn't matter. The snappy South Jersey legislator has got the outfits to go wherever he wants. Meanwhile, everybody knows that State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic City, wants to run for the U.S. Senate. Upon learning he'd been selected for the Best Dressed List, Gormley said, "I'd like to thank the members of the academy and my wife Ginny, who picks out all my ties."

Gormley admits he's a recovering bad dresser and is proof that anybody can be saved. It's not to early to start tie shopping for next year.

Wonder Why Americans Don't Care?

After the two-day impeachment marathon, nobody should ever wonder again why Americans don't pay more attention to politics.

The sanctimonious Republicans pounding the lectern about the rule of law and sanctimonious Democrats pounding the Republicans, surely led lots of folks into thinking that democracy has been way overrated.

Then, in between the voting and the bombing in Baghdad, something really amazing happened. Rep. Robert Livingston, R-Louisiana, the guy who had more or less pushed Newt Gingrich out the door, announced that he's not going to take over as speaker of the house, after all.

Livingston said that he was stepping down because the revelations that he has been involved in extra-marital affairs would hamper his ability to lead effectively.

He said the president should step down, too.

For a moment it seemed like all bets were off.

Here was a Republican leader actually saying that the way a man treats women should matter in his professional life.

Livingston was challenging the compartmentalization theory promoted by men throughout the ages and Democrats over the last year, that a guy can cheat on his wife and lie to the women he runs around with but still be regarded as an honest leader and a world-class statesman.

It lasted about five minutes. The Democrats refused to even consider the idea. Instead, they kept beating their drum and insisting that when the president took an oath not to lie, nobody believed that oath meant he couldn't lie about women.

Clinton himself even piped in to say that he didn't think Livingston should quit. The president's statement came as no surprise. We've been made painfully aware that Clinton doesn't think anybody should lose his job just because of some woman, or even several women.

Livingston's resignation was one of the few good things that happened during the impeachment hearings. It's hard to say what the worst thing was. There were so many "worst things."

The members of Congress finally figured out Friday and yesterday what most of the rest of us learned weeks ago. When it comes to President Clinton's impeachment, nobody ever changes their mind. Anybody who has argued about this over the dinner table will tell you that the people who support the president are sure they're right. They can't imagine how somebody would think that the president's sex life should result in his removal from office.

The people who think the president should be forced out are just as sure. They don't understand how perjury and obstruction of justice can be ignored.

The polls haven't changed much, and the president hasn't moved an inch.

But Livingston's resignation signaled a shift that is likely to change politics from now on.

Democrats may very well win the current argument that the sins of one's private life should have no bearing on one's public standing. Clinton will undoubtedly stay in office.

But in real-life politics, pragmatism rules. No politician is likely ever to put his career at risk in the same way Clinton did again. Sexual recklessness will come to a standstill for anybody above the rank of dog catcher.

No political party will put itself on the line again, either. The next time a guy or woman with a philandering reputation comes before a political party committee, he or she won't make the cut, just as people with iffy tax returns or murky business deals are ruled out now.

That's probably a good thing, particularly for women, who never seem to end up winning much in these political trysts. It may have even made these two days of sanctimonious gavel-pounding all worth it.

Thurs., Dec. 17, 1998

Prez steals thunder of GOP pols

President Bill Clinton's decision to drop bombs on Iraq yesterday upstaged the announcements of two New Jersey Republican congressmen who said they will vote for impeachment.

The Iraq bombing also raised serious concerns for Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Township, who chairs the House subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights. Smith has been closely monitoring the United Nations weapons inspections process in Iraq for months.

Smith emerged from a meeting last night in Washington -- where he and fellow GOP congressman got a briefing from Defense Secretary William Cohen -- voicing skepticism.

"The attack raises some very serious questions," Smith told The Trentonian. "Maybe we won't have honest answers until someone writes their memoirs."

However, Smith gave his full support to the administration as long as the bombing campaign lasts.

"I am hoping for the best: a successful, no-casualty operation," he said.

Smith was especially bothered by Clinton's actions because a U.N. inspector testified last summer that there was compelling evidence to move against Iraq immediately.

Smith said Ritter's testimony raises the question of why the time was not right then -- but it is right today.

Before the bombings were announced yesterday, Smith said he will vote in favor of all four articles of impeachment against the president.

In making that decision, Smith said, the question he asked himself was: "Does the president's deceitfulness carry into public policy, like Social Security and this current crisis?"

The answer, Smith felt, was yes -- and "Operation Desert Fox" does not change his mind.

Rep. Mike Pappas, R-Rocky Hill, the last New Jersey Republican to declare how he would vote, also said yesterday that he had decided to support all four articles of impeachment. It will be his last vote; he leaves office next month.

"I have come to the conclusion that in fact the President did commit perjury by lying under oath and he did obstruct justice and abuse his power by allowing White House officials to perpetuate his inaccurate statements to them," Pappas said.

Pappas, who was defeated in last month's elections by Hopewell Township Democrat Rush Holt, said the decision was not an easy one for him, particularly since many of his supporters believed that a vote for impeachment might limit Pappas' political options in the future.

"For many people, this is the wrong vote," Pappas said. "They want me to vote no."

But Pappas called the vote "too important" to let politics matter.

"When I raised my right hand two years ago, I promised to support the constitution of the United States," Pappas said.

Other New Jersey Republicans questioned Clinton's motives in bombing Iraq on the eve of impeachment hearings yesterday. Rep. Marge Roukema, R-Ridgewood, the dean of the state's congressional delegation, said there was "no question" that the President's actions were a tactic to buy him more time on the impeachment issue.

But Rep. Bob Franks, R-Union, who has indicated he would vote for impeachment, said last night that the threat of Iraq is more important the president's possible trial.

"At a time when men and women of our armed forces are risking their lives to defend our nation, it is not the time for Congress to begin debating articles of impeachment against President Clinton," Franks said.

Wed., Dec. 16, 1998

Pols swamped by impeach calls

There's only a busy signal when you call (202) 224-3121, the direct line to the Capitol.

Dialing your representative directly might get better results ... or maybe not. Phone lines for Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Township, were busy several times yesterday. So were the lines to Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa.

Neither member has announced yet how he plans to vote on the issue of impeachment.

Some members of Congress reported yesterday that they are receiving over 1,000 calls a day regarding impeachment, and about the same number of faxes and e-mails.

Anti-impeachment supporters joined Sean Wilentz and former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach at a rally last night in Princeton's Palmer Square. More than 400 people were there. They are expected to protest again today at Greenwood's offices in Bucks County.

Rep. Mike Pappas, R-Rocky Hill, who was defeated by Rush Holt in last month's election, has closed his Washington office. But he plans to announce how he will vote on impeachment today on the steps of the Capitol.

Republicans in New Jersey seem to be shifting to impeachment. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-Vineland, has announced he favors impeachment, joining four other New Jersey Republicans who have announced they will also vote against the president.

State Senate President Don DiFrancesco, one of the state's highest ranking Republicans, said yesterday that he believed the Republicans will have the votes to impeach Clinton.

"There is strong sentiment in New Jersey that people would like it to end," DiFrancesco said. "But the perception among members of Congress is that Clinton's arrogance blew any break they could have given them."

DiFrancesco acknowledged there was some division on the issue of impeachment among New Jersey Republicans. Former Gov. Tom Kean wrote in a newspaper column over the weekend that he believed the president should not be impeached. However, DiFrancesco said he didn't believe the GOP would suffer any political damage because of the vote.

Wed., Dec. 16, 1998

Impeach debate:‘Hip' vs.‘unhip'

The folks opposed to impeaching the president have started the rallies and marches. Today, there's a big one scheduled in Bucks County. Tomorrow, everybody from the National Abortion Rights Action League to the Rainbow Coalition will be marching in Washington to protest against the members of Congress who are thinking about impeaching President Clinton.

It feels like old times. A significant chunk of the people in the anti-impeachment crowd must have also marched in favor of impeaching Richard Nixon. Think about it. Anyone who feels strongly enough to actually show up and demonstrate in support of Clinton, as opposed to just holding an opinion against impeachment, was probably among the wild-eyed types in the 60s who adopted "sex, drugs and rock and roll" as a personal philosophy.

Not that younger people aren't supporting Clinton, too. At a holiday party over the weekend, I encountered a twenty-something guy who entered one of those polite impeachment discussions that are occurring these days over wine and cheese by saying, "Of course I support the president. I'm gay."

Meaning, I can only guess, that people who favor more relaxed attitudes toward sexual behavior are behind our commander-in-chief.

It must also mean that those Republicans who believe that the President ought to be required to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth are a bunch of judgmental prudes who ought to lighten up.

With only 24 hours to go before the impeachment debate starts in Washington, those of us out in the countryside are in the middle of a cultural war. The people who are on the side of the president think they are hip, even the senior citizens. The folks who want to impeach Clinton are clearly among the unhip.

Except for the poor guys who have to vote on them, the articles of impeachment are irrelevant to almost everybody. Instead, many folks have come to believe the charges against Clinton are the last battle in the sexual revolution; some kind of referendum on whether or not it's OK to just go with your sexual feelings.

Almost nobody thinks impeachment is about perjury. Sixty-seven percent of the public opposes impeachment and almost all of them believe the president committed perjury.

It's not about the rule of law either.

Instead, the hip believe impeachment is something a bunch of uptight white guys are doing to persecute the president. The hip say those uptight guys are "sexual McCarthyites." The hip have made it unhip to care about the president's lying or the truth regarding the president's behavior.

The battle lines have been drawn and we're now talking to each other in abbreviated code. Gay: Supports the president. Old and Republican: Probably not. African-American Democrat: Supports the president. Mothers with young children: Probably not. Pro-wrestling fans: Support the president. Fine wine drinkers: Support the president.

The line between the hip and the unhip is easy to see. But what's hard to figure is where the hip will go from here. If the marches work and the House Republicans back down, what standard of truth will matter in the future?

If it's OK for a president to lie about sex, is it OK to lie about money?

If it's OK for a president to obstruct justice in a sexual harassment trial, would it be OK to obstruct justice in a racial harassment trial? What about a murder trial?

If it's OK for a president to abuse power to cover up a sexual affair, is it OK to abuse power to cover up a bribe?

And what about this? The hip insist that House Republicans are simply acting out of partisan politics in charging the president with perjury, even though there's clear evidence that he lied. So why aren't the Democrats seen as even more partisan in defending Clinton? They know he lied too.

I'm just not hip enough to get it.

NO WELCOME MAT: Pols resent protesters at their doors

They were standing out in front of her house during the holidays. They've been there with candles at night and they promise to keep on coming until she sees it their way.

The leaders of the Communications Workers of America Local 1033 insist they have the constitutional right to peacefully assembly in front of the home of New Jersey Personnel Commissioner Janice Mintz to protest her proposals to change the state's civil service laws.

Mintz has put forth a plan that would increase the emphasis on job performance rather than seniority in determining who is first in line for layoffs.

The CWA local, which represents many of the state workers who would be affected by the change, are so outraged that they've decided to take their anger out on Mintz personally.

"It is personal," said Rae Roeder, president of Local 1033. "When you can't put food on the table, that's personal. She's deciding to make it personal by changing the rules and saying she doesn't have to listen to us."

Mintz says she's willing to take on protests and challenges in her role as commissioner and as a public official, but she believes the protests in front of her home "cross the line."

"I'm disappointed that the unions feel they have to resort to this," said Mintz. "There are family considerations. I have two young children and would prefer not to have this played out in my front yard."

Mintz says her neighbors also don't deserve the spotlight. On their first gathering in Mintz's neighborhood, the union workers mistook one of Mintz's neighbor's houses for hers.

But Roeder believes that protesting close to home, an increasing trend among those with a point to make, can be effective.

"We picketed (former Dept. of Transportation Commissioner John) Haley's house nine times, and he resigned," Roeder said.

When Trenton Police Chief Ernest Williams was also recently targeted by protesters, he went to court for an injunction.

"It affects our lives, our families and our neighbors," said Williams' spokesman, Jim Dellaira. "Picket the police station, but don't come to my home."

Judge Linda Feinberg put Williams' case on hold because the officers threatening to picket never actually approached his home or announced a time when they intended to picket.

CWA political director Alan Kaufman says union members are within their rights in going to the homes of public officials.

"These are totally peaceful pickets. They are not physically intimidating," said Kaufman. "The real threat is what these rules do to workers who have dedicated their lives to the state."

Kaufman said union members have also picketed the governor and other government officials who do not agree with them.

"This has been going on for a long time," Kaufman said. "Nobody thinks there's a threat to person or property."

Peter McDonough, spokesman for Gov. Whitman, acknowledged that the administration did not view the pickets as dangerous.

"They're just standing up against rewarding people for doing a good job," McDonough said.

McDonough said that the CWA is on the losing end of this particular battle regarding performance evaluations, noting that other unions are not speaking out against it.

Roeder says that the union members "have no choice" but to picket in front of Mintz's house because they've not been allowed to participate in the changes in the personnel rules.

"What kind of democracy is this?" Roeder asks. "We're picketing in the spirit of Martin Luther King and Gandhi."

But Mintz says that the CWA has been given the opportunity to discuss the rule changes and that the process is ongoing. Mintz says she met last week with the Labor Advisory Board, which includes three members from the CWA, to discuss changes before going before the Merit System Board. She says she plans to meet with that group again before the end of the year.

"This would be a good setting, if the unions want to use this opportunity, we're very willing to give them the opportunity to talk," Mintz said.

But Kaufman believes that Mintz and the Whitman administration ultimately have no interest in addressing the needs of the unionized state workers.

"Look at what these people represent," Kaufman said. "Christie Whitman, whose husband is a Wall Street financier. What do they want to do? To lower wages for workers around the world."

Roeder said the demonstrations will continue. She has sent out thousands of postcards to her members urging them to send cards to Mintz and to demonstrate at her home.

Mintz says it won't make any difference.

"Their picketing in front of my house won't move my position one millimeter," Mintz said.

However, the commissioner said that she didn't stop the discussions because she believes union leaders are "scaring their members" into thinking they won't have input into the personnel changes.

"I don't want to cut out of the dialogue because a few people are crossing over the line," Mintz said

Christie holdsline...& wins

Gov. Whitman couldn't get the New Jersey Legislature to uphold her veto of a law banning partial birth abortion last year even though both houses are controlled by her party.

Whitman is still holding the line.

CAGER VS. GRAPPLER: Bradley can't go one-on-one with Ventura

State Sen. Richard Codey, D-West Orange, has been saying lately that if Minnesota can elect a professional wrestler as governor, the country can elect a basketball star as president.

Codey is heading up the New Jersey presidential campaign team for former senator and New York Knicks star Bill Bradley. He believes that Bradley's star-power appeal is unique and could excite the same kind of "throw the bums out" sentiment in the presidential race in 2000 that got Ventura elected in Minnesota.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, the captain of New Jersey's Al Gore 2000 team, paraphrased the famous Lloyd Bentsen slap at Dan Quayle last week, saying that "Bill Bradley is no Jesse Ventura." It seemed like a cheap shot, but it was accurate -- nothing but net.

Bradley is not a free-thinking outsider who rose up from the grassroots, like Governor-elect Ventura. In fact, Bradley is the consummate Democratic insider, a liberal's liberal who spends lots of time thinking, but despite all his books, has not come up with a new idea since 1979.

Bradley's run for president is like the Woody Allen description of Hollywood producers: "He's only got an idea, but he's trying to get funding to make it into a concept."

Lots of people like the idea of Bill Bradley. They like thinking about the novelty of a basketball-playing president.

But the reality of Bill Bradley, the notoriously boring former senator whose political career is best described as "sluggish," is something else altogether. There's a huge gap between the "idea of Bradley" and the evidence of how the guy actually performs in the political arena.

In spinning the presidential announcement, Bradley's spokeswoman, Anita Dunn, told me that the former senator would approach the election with the same level of commitment and competition that he has brought to every challenge in his life.

Would that be the same cutting-edge, competitive engagement we saw the last time Bradley ran for office in 1990, when the mostly absent senator decided to buy $12 million worth of television ads playing up his basketball fame, ignore Christie Whitman and refuse to comment on Jim Florio's tax reforms?

Bradley may try basketball star TV commercials in his presidential race, too, but this time he will need $25 million to get into the presidential campaign game and there's no sign he's got a clue how to get it.

Bradley's top fund-raiser, Livingston lawyer Ted Wells, has no national experience. Dunn says Bradley's old Senate fund-raiser, Betty Sapo, will head the national call for cash, but they must know that even in California, where Bradley's headed next week, lots of people are ahead of them who have already collected their pledges.

Gore's fund-raisers have been there lots of times. So have Sen. Bob Kerrey's and Rep. Dick Gephardt's. Both may run against Gore, too, and their fund-raising Rolodexes are far more up to date than Bradley's.

Of course, Jesse Ventura won in Minnesota without money, just votes. But it's hard to figure where Bradley will find voters, either.

Folks who vote in Democratic primaries tend to be union members, African-Americans and party regulars. Almost all those people are already sold on Gore. Sure, there are a few old liberals who will cheerfully put Bradley stickers on their cars, but they won't win the election.

Gore's latest best friends live in Iowa and New Hampshire. Bradley hasn't been to either place yet.

For more evidence that Bradley is clueless about what he's up against, just look at his campaign team. Doug Berman is his campaign chairman, and will be in charge of day-to-day operations. Berman was Jim Florio's state treasurer, the architect of the former governor's ill-fated tax plan and arguably the guy with the worst political instincts in New Jersey. Nobody else on Bradley's team has been in a campaign in years. If Lesniak pulls together the best players on the McGreevey team to fight for Gore, Bradley's folks will have a tough time winning New Jersey and no chance of winning the country.

Bradley doesn't have any concrete ideas, either. After his presidential announcement on Friday, the headline writers here were hounding me for some kind of catchy Bradley quote to use on the cover. Bradley's pledge to "unleash the potential of the American people" just doesn't have the same zip as "It's the economy, stupid."

Which doesn't mean Bradley has nothing going for him. Lots of the big newspapers love him, so he's sure to get great press for quite a while. He's also really tall, and almanac writers say the tallest candidate for president usually wins.

But that's not always true in the primaries.

Holiday Morality

Just in time for the holidays, the movie "Pleasantville," shows that teenagers living in a world of black and white can find the path to enlightenment and technicolor by having sex.

Christie claims trash triumph