BY GREGORY A. HALL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL -- The candidates for Kentucky's 4th Congressional District race found common ground Wednesday: distancing themselves from President Clinton.
The Republican House majority leader stopped just short of calling for the president's resignation, but said it's never acceptable for the nation's leader to lie.
"It's one of the 10 Commandments as near as I can tell," said Rep. Dick Armey, the Texas Republican who spoke Wednesday at a fund-raiser for congressional candidate Gex "Jay" Williams.
Mr. Armey reiterated previous comments that he would resign out of shame if he were guilty of everything that Mr. Clinton is accused of doing in the Monica Lewinsky affair. "He's now pretty well admitted to it," Mr. Armey said.
However, the congressional leader said any decision to quit is up to the president.
Mr. Williams, a state senator from Verona, faces former Boone County Judge-executive Ken Lucas in the race for the congressional seat. Not that anybody could tell Wednesday. Mr. Clinton's name was mentioned a couple times directly and several more indirectly, while Mr. Lucas' name was never mentioned directly.
About 100 people attended the $100-a-ticket event, which was expected to raise between $15,000 and $20,000. Some people gave more than the suggested donation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lucas' campaign said he will not be attending a Democratic Party fund-raiser being organized by Cincinnati attorney Stanley M. Chesley.
"What the president did was wrong and inexcusable," Mr. Lucas said in a statement. "In no way do I condone his actions. In any election environment, ethics and integrity are important. It is in my election. . . . I'm willing to stand that test, and every other candidate should take personal responsibility for his or her action. As public officials, we have a responsibility to serve as role models for our children." That theme also was sounded by Mr. Armey. Much of his rhetoric centered on responsibility, fidelity and honesty -- character traits Mr. Clinton is on the hot seat over now.
As for impeachment, Mr. Armey and Mr. Williams both withheld judgment until special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation report is finished.
Mr. Armey said that report should be released to the public. People aren't interested in the details of the president's affairs, he said. However, he said the details are necessary because Mr. Clinton is playing "a word game" in testimony over what constitutes sex.
Mr. Armey also took issue with a theory advanced by Clinton supporters that says lying is acceptable if it's just about sex. "I'm not impressed by that argument," he said.
The president's continued high approval ratings are perplexing, Mr. Armey said. He said he's more concerned about what that says about the American people than he is what it says about the president.
"The only consolation I have is I've never trusted polls in the first place," he said.
Mr. Williams said the president and his Democratic colleagues must decide whether a resignation is necessary. The Starr investigation and an examination of campaign finance questions in the 1996 election should continue, he said.
Some presidents may see a need to lie, Mr. Williams said.
"It is never OK to lie under oath," he said. "It is never OK to commit perjury. Personally, I don't lie, period. . . . No one regardless of what their personal convictions are should lie under oath." Mr. Williams declined to say whether he thinks that's what Mr. Clinton has done until the Starr report is released.
The majority leader repeatedly cited the need for the Republican Congress and citizens in general to take responsibility for their actions.
Mr. Williams played down the Clinton references at Wednesday's event. "I think the Clinton stuff was tangential," he said, saying reporters, not Republicans, did most of the inquiring on the topic. The Armey speech was about what must happen to reaffirm virtues, such as duty, honor and country, Mr. Williams said, so the nation can remain a superpower both economically and in values.
The 45-minute speech by the majority leader also dealt with what the Republican-led Congress has accomplished since the 1995 takeover from the Democratic Party and what must be done to add to that.
Mr. Armey predicted that the Democrats won't gain control of Congress again in his lifetime.
"There's so much more out there for us to do," he said, rattling off a list that included school choice, reforming public housing and making it tougher to declare bankruptcy.
