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With Clinton judgment in tatters and his skills in question, it made sense to ask the next question: Well, if he can't retrieve these things, if he can't put those talents to use making our lives better or safer, and if he sincerely cares about preserving his policies, then why not do the honorable thing?
The notion of resignation, dismissed as unfair and inconceivable once the overwrought January days had passed, rumbled back into the national conversation. Even before the report arrived, lawmakers were surprised by how quickly the mood was changing. They came back to work last week after spending some time at home and getting an earful. Real people, the lawmakers learned, were sick and tired of turning off the TV when the news came on and hearing their kids use "Monica" like a cussword. They kept asking each other how they were supposed to explain to their constituents why the President of the U.S. was allowed to keep his job after admitting to behavior that would get a high school principal fired. Even Republicans like Representative Fred Upton, a moderate Michigander, called for Clinton's resignation after being asked over and over by voters what he could do about it. When Newt Gingrich heard about his colleague's announcement on returning from several weeks out of town, even the Speaker could hardly believe it. "Wow, things have really changed," he told a friend.
With each passing day, the situation became more and more uncertain. "You've got your clear attack dogs. They love it, they don't mind living in glass houses and throwing rocks," said Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Republican. "But most of us feel uncomfortable in the role of judge. It isn't exactly why we came to Congress. We're off center and edgy." Democratic lawmakers who had been suggesting privately for weeks that the President step down found new allies in corridor conversations and even in leadership meetings. At Clinton's appearance Wednesday in Florida, the audience inside was supportive, while the hecklers outside waved posters: DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DAUGHTERS ARE TONIGHT? CLINTON IS IN TOWN; IT'S MORALITY, STUPID; RESIGN, YOU SWINE.
At the White House, spirits were lodged somewhere in the sub-basement. The President was isolated from all but a handful of aides, and they admitted that he is past taking much direction on these matters. At one low point, he complained that the only people sticking with him were the black members of Congress. It is a B-team White House now, with the best leaving and the ones who remain lacking the stature to tell the President what to do, much less how. Attempts to find a straight-talking TV lawyer to defend the President continue to fizzle, with three and then four candidates having refused the job. Of the current crowd, a former high-ranking White House official says, "They were all kind of standing around waiting to see if he would ever come to Jesus, waiting to see where his head was. The staff took its lead from him." In fairness, too, staff members never knew what the facts were, and the lawyers wouldn't tell them. They had no choice but to wait for signs from the top. An aide, asked what the strategy is, said the President will continue to talk but won't pretend to change the subject; the White House knows this scandal is not going away. Then he paused and conceded, "I guess that's not a strategy. That's a philosophy."