Tired of sleaze?

Get used to it, says Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Monica Lewinsky's uproarious return to Washington to be interviewed Sunday by House managers opens the floodgates to months more testimony on presidential sex and the meaning of "is," the South Dakota Democrat said.

Lewinsky returned Saturday at the demand of House Republicans managing the impeachment trial of President Clinton, setting off a media firestorm and scuttling the prospect of a swift end to the proceedings, which seemed to be at hand only a day before.

Daschle, venting uncustomary anger, denounced the summons of Lewinsky, aided by the last-minute intervention of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, and predicted it would "backfire" on the Republicans. Neither side has the votes to win its case decisively now, he said.

"This new development is just an incredible demonstration of raw partisanship on the part of the House," Daschle told Salon Saturday night as TV pictures of Lewinsky, eyes downcast and wearing a baseball cap in a shouting mob of reporters and camera crews, flashed across the screen.

"I don't know how it's going to play out," Daschle said, "but when the American people see CNN pictures of Monica Lewinsky being dragged in to testify with bodyguards around her just to protect her -- that's not a pretty sight, and I think the American people are going to be pretty unhappy."

Daschle said the Republicans were jumping off a cliff in their rabid pursuit of the president against their own self-interest..

"They don't get it. They can't help themselves. They have so much venomous hatred towards the president that they're on this path of self-destruction that will lead them ultimately, I think, to an extraordinary demise," Daschle said. "I think that it's clear that they're just on this path that they can't get off."

The Democrats will not let the Republicans get away with a quick dog-and-pony show if they call Lewinsky and other potential witnesses, such as presidential secretary Betty Currie, Clinton friend Vernon Jordan and other alleged Clinton paramours, Daschle said. If the Republicans insist on taking depositions from witnesses, he said, the Democrats will insist on cross-examining them, which will open the doors to months more of "ugly" proceedings. "The Republicans would like to bring in Monica rather quickly and ask a few questions just so they can say, 'We did it,' and then get on with it. But I don't think it's that simple," he said. Could White House lawyers feel compelled to pursue Lewinsky's past flings, such as the one alleged by her former college professor? "Yes, that's right," Daschle said. A proposal by veteran West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd to dismiss the charges against Clinton, widely heralded on Friday, especially when television evangelist Pat Robertson declared the impeachment effort "over," would fail at present, Daschle also said. But Republicans still don't have 67 votes to convict him. "Things are incredibly fluid and volatile right now. I think they're volatile in part because sides are hardening, and ... because sides are hardening, I'm not sure whether we have any real prospect of bringing people over." Solutions to the deadlock are being kicked around by "little cabals of senators," he said, with none currently gaining momentum. He predicted the Senate would vote on the issues of deposing witnesses and dismissing the charges Monday. "I would say there's a 70 percent chance right now that we're going to have a vote on dismissal and a vote on witnesses, and I don't know what will happen. My guess is that dismissal will fail and the vote to depose witnesses will succeed. " Then what? "If we go down the witnesses road, this thing is going to take a while," Daschle said, his voice thick with regret. "We're gonna fight to protect the rights of the White House to ensure that they can take full advantage of discovery, and to have the period that will be required for them to prepare for whomever they bring [as witnesses]." How long will impeachment drag on? "[Presidential lawyer David] Kendall said months, and I don't think that's an exaggeration," Daschle said.