Clinton Riding Tolerant Mood

California pollster Mervin Field has a theory why Bill Clinton is riding high in the public’s approval despite a weeklong spate of headlines about Whitewater, Travelgate and now Filegate.

“The flaws that they see - being a womanizer, acting like a politician, talking out of both sides of his mouth - this is what they expect in a politician.”

That mood was captured in a Gallup poll published Friday showing the Democratic incumbent leading Bob Dole, his likely Republican opponent, by 19 points - a gap several points higher than last month’s spread.

“In respect to routine human frailties - having an eye for women, allowing other people to pick up a check, hanky-panky in campaign reporting, anything that happened early in his career before the presidency - I think the public is going to excuse him,” Field said.