Gore speaks out on impeachment

Vice President Gore Monday grabbed center stage in the White House anti-impeachment drive, criticizing the Republican-controlled Congress for bucking the will of the "overwhelming" majority of Americans who, Gore said, oppose impeachment and want a vote on censure.

Gore, who declared he will continue to do "anything that is appropriate and helpful and effective" on behalf of President Clinton, accused Republicans of being "partisan" and of threatening to subject the country to the "long ordeal" of a Senate trial. But asked if Clinton would resign to avert such a trauma, Gore replied, "Of course that's not going to happen."

"The vast majority of the American people have come to two conclusions about this whole matter," Gore said. "Number one, what the President did was terribly wrong. Everybody's in agreement on that. But number two, the American people, by overwhelming majorities, have decided that, notwithstanding that what the President did was wrong, he should not be impeached and removed from office as a result of that. And what they favor instead is censure, to give the president the punishment and the rebuke and the censure that they feel is appropriate in this.

"What the leadership of the Congress has done, is to prevent any kind of compromise along the lines that the American people want to see, and instead, they threaten to put the country through this long ordeal that would ensue, and it's not the right thing to do."

White House sources indicated Monday that Clinton is unlikely to admit he committed perjury, a move demanded over the weekend by a chorus of fence-sitting GOP moderates. Some White House aides appear inclined to believe that Clinton genuinely does not feel he lied during his testimony. And Clinton advisers are uncertain such a move would benefit them.

"For the three or four votes you pick up, you lose a number of Democrats and Republicans who will say that now they have to vote for impeachment and who may be on the record as saying 'If it's perjury, I'll vote to impeach,'" said a White House source. "It's a trap set by those who want a vote for impeachment," added a Clinton ally.

White House sources appeared to take a dim view of the prospects for a censure vote. "It's not going to happen. Three [GOP] leadership people have now staked out a position against it," said one.

One White House official emphatically denied the fight in the House already has been lost. "I don't think we're dead," he asserted. "We can get to 12 [Republicans] easily. After that, we need just another four to win."

White House officials believe they will definitely lose at least two Democratic votes-Reps. Ralph Hall of Texas and Gene Taylor of Mississippi. Rep. Virgil Goode, D-Va., also is on record as favoring impeachment. Beyond that, they have another seven on a "watch list," and do not anticipate losing more than one or two of these, the White House official said.