Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230070
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TERENCE HUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Strangely, there were a lot of winners in the defeat of Dr. Henry Foster's nomination as surgeon general. It was a clear triumph for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and his Republican rival Phil Gramm - and also a victory of sorts for President Clinton.
The apparent loser was Foster. But even he may not wind up empty-handed; Clinton may tap him to help lead a crusade against teen pregnancy.
Foster's wrenching ride came to an anticlimactic end Thursday, with supporters still stuck three votes short of gaining a yes-or-no Senate vote on his nomination. Thursday's 57-43 vote to cut off debate and have a final vote on Foster - three votes short of the 60 needed - was exactly the same as a day earlier. Eleven Republicans joined the 46 Senate Democrats in voting to cut off the debate.
Virginia's senators followed their party majorities, with Democrat Charles Robb voting to close debate and Republican John Warner voting not to.
The president declined to say when he might offer a new nominee.
Even as Foster's nomination died, Clinton got credit for finally sticking up for a troubled candidate and fighting to the bitter end.
To many Democrats, that was a welcome contrast to Clinton's abandonment of Lani Guinier, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, who were nominated for various posts, as well as Joycelyn Elders, the flamboyant surgeon general whom the president forced to resign.
Behind Foster's defeat was the issue of abortion. Clinton and the Republicans all tried to seize advantage from it.
``No one who was pro-choice thinks that Clinton backed off,'' said Brookings Institution analyst Stephen Hess. ``And no one who was pro-life thinks that Dole or Gramm backed off.''
In defeating Foster, Dole and Gramm were able to deliver the prize dearly sought by anti-abortion groups that could play a large role in deciding the GOP presidential nomination.
Abortion foes were outraged by the revelation that Foster, an obstetrician-gynecologist, had performed 39 abortions in his career. That alone disqualified him for many conservatives - though supporters emphasized he also delivered more than 10,000 infants in his career and led a program to deter teen pregnancy.
Gramm wanted to lead the fight against Foster by staging a filibuster against the nomination. Dole undercut Gramm with hurried votes that kept his rival out of the spotlight - a tactical victory that was probably best appreciated by Washington insiders.
In the end, ``both of them now come out relatively even with the key pro-life constituency,'' said Republican strategist Eddie Mahe. ``Both of them were there.''
``Everybody wins but the guy who has to go through this whole experience and has to go home defeated,'' Hess said of Foster.
Democrats and Republicans alike called the Foster vote the first test of the GOP presidential nomination race. And they weren't happy about it.
``We've got too many people running for president,'' said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., who switched to the Republican side this year.
``How many political primaries are we going to have on the floor of the Senate?'' thundered Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. ``The election's 18 months away.''
Of course, as Dole tried to point out, Foster's nomination also was a political matter for Clinton.
Clinton pointedly tried to drive a wedge between Republicans on abortion. After Foster's defeat, Clinton charged that the party had chosen ``to side with extremists who would do anything to block a woman's right to choose.''
Democrats are confident the abortion issue will haunt Republicans next year.
``By flexing their muscle this week in full view of the American public and exercising a veto over health care policy, they have insured that this issue will play a prominent role in the '96 election,'' said Planned Parenthood vice president Ann Lewis.
That's fine, said GOP strategist Mahe.
Since putting an anti-abortion plank in their national platform, he notes, Republicans have captured the White House in three out of four elections, won a majority of the governors' seats and taken control of Congress.
by CNB