It's over. It's not over.

No Hard Feelings

By Rick Horowitz

Furious Clinton privately vows revenge on House Republicans.

Ripped from the headlines

WASHINGTON, ANY MINUTE NOW -- Saying that the time had come to let bygones be bygones, President Clinton pledged today to forge a new era of bipartisan cooperation in this scandal-torn capital.

Emerging at long last from the shadow of impeachment, Mr. Clinton promised to reach out to congressional Republicans to build a record of legislative achievement in his final two years in office.

"The past is past," the president announced in brief, low-key remarks from the White House Rose Garden. "We need to focus on the future, and the people's business."

The president's sober demeanor this afternoon was a conscious choice, aides confirmed. Several had fretted that an ebullient Mr. Clinton would annoy voters who felt that he had committed serious misdeeds in the Lewinsky matter, even if they ultimately preferred that he keep his job.

These aides -- and those voters -- needn't have worried; the president looked anything but upbeat as he stepped to the podium.

"We all make mistakes," Mr. Clinton declared, striking a much-anticipated note of contrition. "And I guarantee you, we will all pay for our mistakes, no matter how long it takes."

Mr. Clinton was particularly eager, he said, to reestablish a working relationship with Republicans in the House of Representatives, where the impeachment battles were most contentious. Indeed, the president revealed that he had already invited the 13 House impeachment managers to a "special breakfast" in the Oval Office as soon as they return to Washington from Congress' winter recess.

"We've been through so much together," the president explained. "I just want a chance to thank them for their service to the country. You never know when one of them might get hit by a bus, or fall into a vat of boiling oil."

Senior Administration officials emphasized that the president bore no ill will toward the managers, who had pursued Mr. Clinton with a single-mindedness that many observers found excessive.

"He understands that they were just playing the role the Constitution assigned them," said one official, who asked to remain anonymous. "Blood-sucking, bottom-feeding scum."

In an effort to better understand the managers' vigorous efforts against him, the president vowed to visit each manager's congressional district frequently between now and Election Day 2000. These trips, White House aides acknowledged, may be tied to fundraising events in those districts, and the president might even appear at these events with candidates who are running against particular managers.

"It's nothing personal," one senior aide contended. "He just figures the members themselves will be tied up in Washington working on all this new legislation he's proposing. Or maybe they'll be busy fighting off some horrible disease that makes their tongues fall out and their eyeballs explode."

The president's legislative proposals, meanwhile, run the gamut from traditional concerns such as Social Security and Medicare reform to smaller, more targeted programs designed to bridge bitter partisan divisions.

The "Distinguished Members in Space" program, for instance, will study the effects of prolonged weightlessness on selected congressmen, who will be launched toward distant galaxies aboard rockets personally designed by the president and Hillary Clinton. Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) is reported to be a prime contender for the first flight, tentatively scheduled for early next year.

The "Old Parts for New Starts" program will offer large tax credits for the donation -- voluntary or otherwise -- of vital organs belonging to other prominent Republican congressmen such as Bill McCollum (R-FL) and James Rogan (R-CA).

"These folks have already contributed so much," the president said. "I'm sure they won't mind doing a little bit more. It's also a great way to get their constituents interested in politics again."

And Mr. Clinton said he will seek $13.2 million for fast-track construction of a Bob Barr Memorial Federal Building in north Georgia. Reminded by a reporter that Rep. Barr is still alive, the president replied, "What time is it?"

Aides later explained that Mr. Clinton was "joking."

Posted 2/12/99. Are you enjoying your visit? Tell your friends!

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