A Senate trial will have a dignity and a gravity that was largely lacking in the shamelessly politicized special prosecution and House zealotry. Secondly, the polls are no longer so stable. The voters are indeed weary of it all, but more are seeing Clinton as the problem. In addition, this President's support within his own party is far softer than it seems. But this is no mere tactical feint.
Democrats resent having been put in a position where they have to defend the indefensible.
Liberal Democrats, who are the most outraged at Kenneth Starr's inquisition and the most energized against the far right, are also smarting the most bitterly from betrayal after Clinton betrayal. Last week, as the administration was debating whether to cut a deal with Republicans for partial privatization of Social Security, several liberal strategists said privately that if the President were impeached and subjected to a lengthy Senate trial, at least he would be far too preoccupied to sell out Social Security. The fact that the whole process that got us to this point was a travesty will fade into history. Starr should never have been allowed to shift his chaege from Whitewater real-estate dealings to the President's sex life. Clinton should have never been subjected to a grand jury inquiry.