Wondering How to Play the Clinton Card

SACRAMENTO —  It’s a puzzling paradox: Most Californians (58%) think President Clinton is setting a bad moral example for the nation. Yet, most (62%) approve of the way he is handling his job.

One simple explanation is that most people don’t think it’s a president’s job to set a moral tone. But only a small minority of Californians (24%) actually believe that.

This new data comes from the independent Field poll, which surveyed 1,119 California adults last week. The poll also found that half the people believe the president is dishonest. But more like him than not (44%-33%).

Pollster Mervin Field explains the incongruity, in part, by noting that Clinton is being propped up by the strong economy. He also points out that many agree with him on social issues, such as abortion.

Myself, I think people also have a lot invested in this guy--their votes--and they’re resisting buyer’s remorse.

Second, many are naturally defensive about institutions poking into private lives. They ignore that even if a president is entitled to a private life, it should not be in the Oval Office, especially while having “critical lapses in judgment” with a young intern.

Third, some have played around themselves and think they can relate. I’ve always suspected there’s a hidden philanderer vote out there.

*

All this is perplexing to politicians, especially those now running for office. In criticizing Clinton, Republicans have to worry about sounding too moralistic and looking like opportunists. Democrats need to guard against ultimately being dragged over a cliff by a president who has lost his balance. Some--like U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer--also are vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy.

For months, Boxer ducked questions about fellow Democrat Clinton. But in past years, she had led fights against Republicans accused of sexual harassment--Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and then-Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon. Compounding Boxer’s predicament is that Clinton is family; her daughter is married to a brother of the first lady.

So the senator got peppered about this during her first campaign debate Wednesday with state Treasurer Matt Fong. “I’ll repeat,” she responded impatiently. “What the president did was wrong. He should have stepped forward earlier and taken responsibility.”

But there was no sense of outrage. Rather, Boxer also kept repeating, “Are we going to spend our time speaking of the president’s problems, or the problems of the people?” This assumes that a president’s trashy conduct and blatant lying are not problems for the people.

Well, at least some people think they are, including Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

*

With a new TV ad, Lungren is walking a thin line between the public’s conflicting attitudes toward Clinton. The Republican gubernatorial nominee is trying to remind voters that character does count without alienating the president’s supporters.

He’s also trying to excite Republicans. Indeed, one big fear of Democratic strategists is that their voters will become so disillusioned with the president they’ll stay home election day, while angry Republicans stream to the polls.

“The right-wing of the Republican party could really be inflamed about this [scandal],” acknowledges Paul Maslin, the pollster for Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, Lungren’s Democratic opponent.

Lungren’s 30-second spot--dubbed “Character”--doesn’t mention the president, but it doesn’t have to. He’s there vicariously.

“A leader has to be someone who leads by example,” Lungren begins, a family picture in the background. At one point, the candidate is shown walking with his wife Bobbi. “You can’t tell people to do one thing while you do another,” he says before adding the punch line: “From the White House to the schoolhouse, from parent to principal, that’s what we ought to be talking about. . . . Character is doing what’s right when no one’s looking.”

The ad now is running only in the Central Valley, a growing region of swing voters with strong moral values.

Lungren has been preaching moral leadership for months and is a true believer. A president--or a governor--is more than just a CEO, he contends. If he’s setting a bad moral example, he’s also guilty of poor job performance.

“The public has a right to hold their leaders to a higher standard . . . I’ve had hundreds of interns work for me and I always felt an obligation to be a role model. . . . Maybe the higher up you get in the chain, the less responsible you are. I don’t understand it. Maybe I’m politically incorrect.”

Maybe just in the Clinton era.