It's not much to go on, or at least not much more than before. But though acquittal remains a foregone conclusion, TIME congressional correspondent Jay Carney says the managers still have plenty to fight for: The hearts and minds of all those GOP moderates who left them behind in Thursday's 70-30 slap-down of a live Lewinsky. "Some of those will be coming back," he said. "Members who didn't want the spectacle don't necessarily want to acquit. The final vote will be a lot closer." In fact, Thursday's blowout was probably a blessing in disguise. Now that they've shown their independence from their right flank, the GOP moderates are valuable again winning them back to the fold could actually make a 55-45 vote seem principled instead of just a failed Republican stampede. That's assuming any voters are still watching by the end of next week - as America's newest pundit, D.C. resident Richard Llamas, screamed from the gallery Thursday (before being arrested for disruption of Congress, a misdemeanor), "God almighty, take the vote and get it over with!" Presidential pardon, anyone?
Senate Schedules Video Highlights
-
Share
-
Read Later
-
WASHINGTON: And with six days to go, the Senate rested. But the House managers and the White House legal team had plenty to do Friday: poring over the transcripts of those three depositions, reviewing the tapes, getting ready for the six-hour duel of the clips that will begin in the Senate at 10:00 a.m. ET Saturday. The transcripts have been released to reporters, and while there are no bombshells, there are a few nuggets. One: Vernon Jordan finally admitted that though he still couldn't remember it, he must have had breakfast with Monica Lewinsky on the day she said he told her to get rid of the love notes - he used a credit card, and the prosecutors had the receipt. But, he said, he certainly never told her to destroy evidence. Lewinsky went along with Rep. Ed Bryant on the timing of a visit from Betty Currie, but - and you can bet the White House will show this part - emphatically repeated that no one told her to lie. Sidney Blumenthal? The President, he said, lied to him. What a surprise.