Thursday, January 27, 2000
2 years after Clinton visit, few have changed opinion
Citizens show they're polarized
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
President Clinton will undoubtedly try to give the historians an outline for writing the story of his presidency when he delivers his eighth and final State of the Union.
But for a group of voters — those who weighed in with opinions two years ago when the president was under political and legal attack — the story has already been written.
These voters were among 1,400 who told The Cincinnati Enquirer what they thought of Mr. Clinton as he prepared to come to Cincinnati for a fund-raiser in September 1998.
The messages ranged from utter disgust to pleas for Mr. Clinton to resign to heartfelt sympathy and wishes for forgiveness.
This week, the Enquirer spoke to some of those readers to see if their views had changed. For the most part, they had not.
• Juanita Lynem, Silverton: The 67-year-old, a school crossing guard, is as supportive of Mr. Clinton now as she was at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
“I still feel like he has done a remarkable job,” Mrs. Lynem said. “Had that episode not occurred, his achievements would have been monumental.”
Mrs. Lynem said that while the impeachment trial and the scandal “saddened me deeply,” she believes history will give Mr. Clinton credit for presiding over a booming economy and for “his commitment to human rights.”
• Glenn “Rocky” Woods, Northside: Back in 1998, the 52-year-old artist saw Mr. Clinton's behavior as “scandalous” but he was generally supportive.
Time, though, has changed his opinion.
“I was concerned at the time about his right to privacy, but, after that, it became so apparent that he had lied so much and so often, that you really can't excuse or forgive it.
• Ann Richburg, Forest Park: What impresses the retired biology teacher about Mr. Clinton is that he weathered the Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment trial “and kept his presidency intact.”
“He bounced back and is attempting to finish it out,” Ms. Richburg said. “It is unfortunate what he did and he got a smack on the hand for it, but the American people seem to have forgotten about it and moved on.”
Overall, Ms. Richburg said, Mr. Clinton has done “an excellent job” as president.
“Despite what he did to himself, I think he will be seen as a very good president,” she said.
• Kathleen Kinsey, Oakley: The 50-year-old librarian believes that his political enemies — particularly Republicans in Congress — were out to destroy him from the beginning.
“When he became president, I felt real hope with this person, that he could accomplish a lot,” Ms. Kinsey said. “Yes, he made mistakes, but I don't think he ever got a fair shake from the Congress. He went though a hell of a lot, this poor man.”
What set the Clinton administration apart from other presidencies, in her mind, was “that he really seemed to care what people think, what people wanted for their lives.”
• Winnie House, West Chester: The 45-year-old, who was trained as a paralegal but stayed home to raise her children, is, like Mr. Clinton, a native of Arkansas.
When people find out she is from the same state as the president, she said, “I have to start making excuses and telling people it's not my fault that he's president.”
Mrs. House said that when she thinks of the Clinton presidency, one word comes to mind: “pathetic.”
“Actually, I try to think about him as little as possible,” Mrs. House said.
As for tonight's State of the Union speech, Mrs. House said she doubts that many people “really care what he has to say. He's kind of irrelevant.”
• Beth Schott, Anderson Township: The 43-year-old mother and free-lance graphic designer said she “never liked Clinton from the start.”
She was against him pre-Monica, pre-impeachment, and doesn't think any better of him or his presidency now that he is a year away from leaving office.
“He just always rubbed me the wrong way,” Mrs. Schott said.
The judgment of history, she said, “can't be anything but bad.”
• John Cell, College Hill: The 45-year-old principal trombonist for the South Carolina Philharmonic said that he thinks history might be more kind to Mr. Clinton than many now think.
“The scandal will never go away, but that won't be all that will be remembered,” Mr. Cell said. “Even Richard Nixon, years after Watergate, lived out his last few years as sort of a rehabilitated statesman; at the end, a lot of people admired him.”
Mr. Cell said he has, for the most part, liked what Mr. Clinton has done as president, saying the Clinton administration has “reordered the priorities of what is important for government.”
• James Sudenga, Erlanger: The 37-year-old airline pilot said he voted for Mr. Clinton in 1992, but calls him a “relatively poor president.”
“It just seems like his whole presidency was based on the preservation of power,” Mr. Sudenga said. “To tell you the truth, I don't know what the man believes in except power.”
In 1994, after the Republicans took control of Congress, Mr. Clinton “started moving to the center and caving in on one issue after another. Most of the things he gets credit for, like the balanced budget, were the result of a conservative Congress. He was just along for the ride.”
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