BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Former Sen. Bob Dole, who tried and failed to make the "character" issue stick when he ran against President Clinton two years ago, said Tuesday in Cincinnati it is too early to talk about the president's resigning.
"I don't think I should say that; it would seem self-serving and sound like sour grapes," said the 1996 GOP presidential nominee, who was in Cincinnati to campaign for U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot.
Mr. Dole spoke to about 50 lawyers Tuesday morning at the downtown law offices of Keating, Muething & Klekamp. Mr. Chabot was in Washington because the House is in session and was not on hand for the fund-raising breakfast, but he sent his wife, Donna, and his mother, Doris Chabot. "Steve's in Washington working; it's not like he can't decide whether or not to show up with me," said the former Kansas senator. The remark drew a laugh from the audience, which took it as a sly reference to the fact that some Democratic congressional candidates have been reluctant to show up in public with the president since the independent counsel report detailing his affair with a White House intern was released.
Mr. Dole said he has not yet read the report of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, which referred 11 possibly impeachable offenses by Mr. Clinton to the U.S. House.
"I say we let the process work, let it move forward," Mr. Dole said.
He said the scandal enveloping the Clinton White House has damaged the presidency and lessened the public's respect for the office. "I think there was a loss of respect for the office after Watergate, and I think the same is true now," Mr. Dole said.
He joked that he and his wife, Elizabeth -- a possible presidential contender in 2000 -- live next door to former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in Washington's Watergate apartment complex, where the break-in occurred in 1972 that led to President Nixon's downfall. "I was Republican National Committee chairman during Watergate, and now I live next door to Monica Lewinsky," Mr. Dole said. "It seems like every 25 years or so, something exciting happens in our building."
