Tapes fail to stir controversy some opponents expected

WASHINGTON - Billed in advance as a potential political earthquake, President Clinton's videotaped testimony before independent counsel Kenneth Starr's grand jury hit Washington yesterday with only a fraction of the force Democrats had feared and Republicans had anticipated.

Democrats across the country saw a president more sympathetic and reasonable than they had been led to expect, while Republicans here and in key states saw an evasive and occasionally combative chief executive splitting legal hairs over the definition of sex. But in the end, neither side saw the four hours of testimony as a decisive moment in the investigation that has consumed the country since last January.

"Well, I never said anything about it, for one thing. And I did what people do when they do the wrong thing. I tried to do it when nobody else was looking." - President Bill Clinton speaking during his testimony on his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) summed up the overall impact of the event that brought official Washington to a standstill this way. "I don't expect a meaningful impact on the public's overall impression of the president or the process that's under way," Grassley said in a statement. "Based on the expectations built up by both sides, the broadcast failed to register on the Richter scale."

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who heads the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, said the video is likely to reinforce people's attitudes but not change many minds. "Everything we heard today we already knew," she said. "His responses were less angry than we were led to believe."

Democrats and Republicans around the country appeared more willing to offer their assessments of the videotape than were politicians on Capitol Hill. Many members of the House and Senate did not watch the videotape as it was being aired by the major networks yesterday morning, and even some of those who did appeared hesitant to rush to judgment before they had an idea of where their constituents were heading.

There was an obvious sense of relief among some Democrats that the release of Clinton's testimony had not produced another moment of devastation for the president - or for them as they look to the November midterm elections. But at the same time, there was no indication that the airing of the videotape had any immediate effect on slowing the momentum that has been building for a formal impeachment inquiry in the House Judiciary Committee.

Democrats were generally buoyed by the video, assessing it as far less damaging than expected. Some said the release of the testimony threatens to make congressional Republicans look excessively partisan. But few said they thought it would do much to brighten an increasingly gloomy outlook for Democrats in November.

Tad Devine, who worked in both the Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis campaigns, said "Clinton looked under control. This may be a strange situation where the expectations for an event collide with the reality of what does happen with an event. This does not add any fuel to the fire, and instead, it works in the other direction."

"I expected a lot worse," said Dane Strother, a Democratic media strategist. "I saw a man who was really anguished, really embarrassed and who wanted to be out of the room."

Karl Struble, a Democratic media consultant who is not particularly close to the White House, said Clinton appeared sometimes to be remorseful, sometimes resentful. "Those are two things that make him look far less sinister that Ken Starr has portrayed him," Struble said.

He said Clinton should tackle Republican critics head on by testifying directly before the Judiciary Committee. "He'll do the same thing Ollie North did," he said, referring to the highly successful appearance of Lt. Col. Oliver North before the Iran-Contra Committee during the Reagan years.

But not all Democrats saw Clinton's testimony so positively. "I just think it brings back visions of Slick Willie," said Brian Lunde, a Democratic strategist. While the details of the testimony were well known, he said, the release of the videotape gave Clinton's critics a chance to put it before the public again. "It's the drumbeat that won't stop," he said.

Republicans were more conflicted. None said the video added significantly to the case against Clinton. Some argued that it will serve to push Clinton deeper into the quicksand, while others were strikingly critical of the video.

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