Taking his cue from the President's own survival tactics of staying above the fray, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott showed up Wednesday morning at a meeting of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to promise "a burst of activity" once the impeachment trial ends. Among the items on Lott's to-do list (many suspiciously similar to those on Clinton's popular wish list) were education, Social Security and welfare adjustments. "More than ever, Republicans now realize that they clearly need to establish a predicate for a post-impeachment agenda," says Carney. "And so the GOP is putting out a great effort to show they can walk and chew gum at the same time." Already last week, on the heels of the President's State of the Union address and even before Lott's speech, Republicans moved to unveil what they hope will be a popular tax-cutting proposal for this year. With the 2000 elections looming on the horizon, the time to dig out from under the impeachment rubble is looking preciously short.
Republicans Hurt by Impeachment
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The GOP is reeling from what could be a political earthquake. TIME congressional correspondent James Carney reports that "Republican pollsters have told Republican members that polls now show that impeachment is the issue most identified with the GOP." The tremors felt from that bit of news have set off alarm bells in Republican corridors and prompted leaders to scramble for a strategy -- and quickly -- lest the party be buried under the rubble of impeachment.