WASHINGTON: This was probably as close to Perry Mason as we're going to
get. "Charles Ruff had the advantage because his stuff at least
seemed new," says TIME White House correspondent Jay Branegan. "He
hit hard with different timelines for an obstruction case, and he managed to
attack the House managers' case while arguing that the basis for it -- the
Starr report -- was so thorough that witnesses weren't needed." The big
score: reminding senators that Vernon Jordan was on a plane to Amsterdam
when Monica Lewinsky was ruled relevant to the Paula Jones case. As Ruff
said, "So much for obstruction," although afterward Republicans were quick
to point out that an ounce of obstruction, before the fact, is just as bad
as a pound.
With his usual candor and understatement, Ruff also
managed to show the House managers a thing or two about patriotism -- or at
least how to play it for votes. "I don't have the experience of serving in
the military," said the wheelchair-bound Ruff. Those who died in battle,
though, "didn't fight for one side of this case or another." Branegan says
Ruff did his job: "Raise enough doubts so that those who vote not to
convict will have some points on which to hang their hat politically." And
just like Raymond Burr in those afternoon reruns, he wrapped it all up in
plenty of time for dinner. Coming at 9 p.m. (ET)/8 p.m. central: The
defense's star witness takes the podium -- with no oath.
