T A B L E+T A L K Does Starr have too much power? Discuss the office of the independent council in the Politics area of Table Talk D A I L Y+Q U O T E JonBenet Ramsey detective's damning resignation R E C E N T L Y Click here for Viagra (or other drugs) By Greg Critser Your Viagra is only a click away (08/07/98) Just do it, Bill By Fred Branfman The president should tell the truth (08/06/98) Clinton's sexual scorched-earth plan By Jonathan Broder and Harry Jaffe The White House may be ready to declare a "total war" on Congress over the Lewinsky case (08/05/98) New JFK death film By Scott McLemee New Zapruder film doesn't solve JFK case (08/04/98) Author asks: When did Jones and Clinton meet? By Lori Leibovich Mystery at the Excelsior Hotel (08/03/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		Democrats running scared Zippergate presents the minority party with a no-win situation this fall. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BY JONATHAN BRODER Now that Monica Lewinsky has delivered her long-awaited account of her alleged affair with President Clinton to Kenneth Starr's grand jury, a deep sense of uncertainty and foreboding has taken grip among Democrats over the long-term damage that the party may suffer as a result of the sex scandal. Though Democratic Congress members are showing demonstrative signs of support for Clinton as he prepares for his own grand jury testimony on Aug. 17, many are feeling uncomfortably tentative when it comes to their reelection strategies only months before the fall midterm elections. Moreover, a host of unanswered questions about the president's relationship with Lewinsky, coupled with the public's unpredictable reaction should an affair be proven, has created another zone of political darkness as the party looks toward the presidential election in 2000. "The reality is we are in uncharted waters," says one Democratic pollster, who asked not to be identified. "We are certainly where no human being has gone before. Nobody can say with any certainty what will happen under any scenario." To minimize those uncertainties, the clear preference among lawmakers, party activists and elders is for a presidential mea culpa if Clinton has lied, and for a political denouement that will end the Lewinsky scandal "with a whimper, not a bang," as one congressman put it. Absent such an apology, Democrats regard Clinton's testimony on Aug. 17 as some kind of political watershed, both for him and the party. "Once he's testified, we will have turned a corner," said another pollster, adding fretfully: "Of course we don't where that corner will lead." A major question for the Democrats is when Starr will send his report to Congress on his four-year-long criminal investigation of the president. Some Republicans are now calling for Starr to submit it before the midterm election, hoping it will discredit Clinton enough to cripple his ability to raise money for the Democrats. Reflecting Democratic concerns, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt has warned Starr he would be making a "grave mistake" if he submits his report before the election. "That would be very partisan, very unfair and demeaning to the process that I think all of us believe is important to this country," he said. N E X T+P A G E+| Some comfort in the approval ratings