DEMOCRATS HELD HOSTAGE
ABRAMS, ELLIOTT
DEMOCRATS HELD HOSTAGE ELLIOTT ABRAMS WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED from the acquittal of Bill Clinton is that the American people are more "disposed to suffer, while evils are suf-ferable, than to right...
...This week the Democratic party and its president may seem to be winners...
...As a large minority disagrees with this judgment, we can expect sexual morality to remain a matter of public debate and conflict in the coming years...
...The third political effect relates to the Republican party...
...We have also learned something surprising: A majority of Americans have bought the line that sexual behavior between (among...
...Many Americans share the view that something of value has been lost in our common life and that the Democrats lost it...
...ation, is, well, once again the defender of public morals against the sixties generation, or at least those members of it now running the executive branch and the media...
...DEMOCRATS HELD HOSTAGE ELLIOTT ABRAMS WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED from the acquittal of Bill Clinton is that the American people are more "disposed to suffer, while evils are suf-ferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed"—or by kicking out a president when the economy is strong...
...What are the political effects...
...The notion that public service requires men and women of good character now seems quaint...
...Bill Clinton, already a lame duck, is unlikely to see his reputation improve after he leaves office, as Jimmy Carter did...
...An appeal to voters to help restore the dignity and even glory of the presidency will fare well...
...if they shirk it, they will have ratified the Clinton standards...
...The Democrats are now hostage to Clinton's report card...
...The GOP, once the defender of public morals against the sixties generThe expectation that citizens will be honest in the courts has been badly damaged...
...The value of an oath has been undermined...
...If the Republicans perform this role too zealously, they will be seen as scolds and hypocrites...
...But we had reason to know that already...
...It won't last...
...People don't seem to think that adultery is fine, but they do seem to think that no one may be criticized for engaging in it...
...The Democrats are now linked in the public mind with the president's behavior...
...There is a real opportunity here for Republicans...
...consenting adults is beyond criticism...
...The expectation that citizens will be honest in the courts has been permanently damaged...
...The second political effect relates to our public life, and here the news is bad...
...Democrats will probably begin distancing themselves from the president and his behavior very soon and continue to do so after the next election...
...These citizens are chary of leaders who proclaim their own virtue but eager for leaders who are virtuous...
...Elliott Abrams is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C...
...The first relates to the president...
...This process will accelerate if new revelations of misconduct arise, as they may...
Vol. 4 • February 1999 • No. 22
