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The combined defense arguments were compelling enough to trigger some quick shifting of strategy on both sides of the aisle. The clever Democratic ploy of enlisting West Virginia's Robert Byrd to offer a motion to dismiss "was a bombshell," as a Republican Senator put it. Any list of possible Democratic defectors always had Byrd's name at the top. "If Byrd is now offering a vote to dismiss, conviction really is dead."
Which leaves at least some of the 55 G.O.P. Senators wondering what they gain by pressing on much longer. But having lost the popular center long ago, they can at least keep their conservative base happy by insisting on a full trial. And so at week's end they linked arms with both the House managers and Ken Starr in the effort to debrief Monica Lewinsky even before the question of calling witnesses was resolved. Bipartisanship was shredding as the two sides bickered over all the procedural issues they had sidestepped when the trial began.
By then the Democrats were worrying about such luxuries as appearing graceful in the victory they now expect. The White House was careful not to start the victory dance; advisers were put on "gloat patrol" to avoid annoying wavering Republicans. Clinton, having again asserted his mastery of his craft, cannot be seen celebrating dismissal or acquittal in a trial that has left so much blood on the floor. "It is not our purpose to embarrass the Republican leadership," said New Jersey's Robert Torricelli. The only way out is a careful one. "This is a dance that everyone must do together," Torricelli observed, "and no one wants to step on anybody's toes."
--Reported by Jay Branegan, James Carney, John F. Dickerson, Michael Duffy, Viveca Novak, Karen Tumulty and Michael Weisskopf/Washington