THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260026
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Addressing a Congress dominated by the opposing party, President Clinton tried to manage his depleted political capital skillfully enough to avoid appearing completely bankrupt.
Clinton admitted the collapse of health-care reform and his party's electoral drubbing had been humbling. His new motto might well be: Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now. He entered a plea for comity, or perhaps mercy, and attempted to run to the head of the parade and claim a piece of the conservative agenda as his own.
Clinton has cut the size of government, streamlined programs and made headway against the deficit. But New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, speaking for the Republicans, said he hasn't gone far enough or fast enough. The fact that the debate is almost entirely over how much to cut government shows how much the landscape has changed.
At times, Clinton appeared to be begging his fellow Americans to believe government does perform some legitimate functions. The danger now for Clinton is irrelevancy. The danger for Republicans is zealotry. Polls suggest Clinton is not liked or trusted, but his centrist agenda meets with surprising approval. He had a saleable general theme in the speech - the need to preserve the middle class and help the underclass enter it. But it got lost in a Clintonesque blizzard of particulars.
For their part, the Republicans risk appearing extreme. Most voters aren't partisans, but pragmatists. They may hate taxes but have grown used to their own entitlements. In insisting that Republicans let voters see the specifics of a balanced budget before passing a balanced-budget amendment, Clinton's betting voters will shrink from the reality of Republican reforms.
The president said the parties could work together on piecemeal health-care reform since the grand plan had failed, on the line-item veto and unfunded mandates. On welfare reform, he said people should work, support their children and take responsibility for their lives. But he warned that Republicans would punish children for the accident of their birth.
He tried to position himself as favoring community; the Republicans as harshly divisive. He said he'd make government leaner; they'd make it meaner. Of course, the voters may want it meaner. Clinton also promised to fight for a higher minimum wage and campaign-finance and lobbying reform. Often, however, he had the plaintive tone of a man trying to reason with a stream roller. He knows the next two years will be about power, and he hasn't got much.
The future could have been charted by watching Speaker Newt Gingrich bob up and down behind the president. The initiatives Gingrich rose to applaud will move smartly through Congress. But during other Clinton remarks, Gingrich smiled contentedly and sat on his hands - as he will sit on the legislation.
Still, the Republicans, flush with victory and even a trifle smug, must please not just themselves but middle-class voters who will judge their reforms too hot, too cold or just right. Clinton ruefully recalled that the voters chose change in 1992. And again in 1994. If displeased with the Republicans, they won't hesitate to turn the tables again in 1996. by CNB