Opportunity Should Be Seized

What difference does it make, if the American people think sleazy White House fund raising was irrelevant because all politicians are guilty of it?

It makes a lot of difference because the American people need, and world stability requires, trustworthy leadership.

Sure, this week’s uproar over the investigation of Clinton-Gore fund raising seemed irrelevant to daily life out here in Eastern Washington. It seemed like just another round of partisan bloodletting. It seemed like just another reminder that Congress isn’t able or willing to reform campaign financing.

And yet, there was an opportunity this week - an opportunity that was missed - to shove the whole ugly mess in the direction of credibility.

The Justice Department is investigating assorted allegations of corruption in the Clinton re-election campaign. Some of alleged misconduct involved the president and vice president themselves.

FBI Director Louis Freeh points out that the president’s subordinates in the Justice Department, from Attorney General Janet Reno on down, have a conflict of interest when they try to decide whether to prosecute (or exonerate) their boss. Freeh urged Reno to turn the allegations over to an independent counsel. Reno has done exactly that, using exactly the reasoning Freeh used, in the past. Such is the character of this administration that she has done so six times.

But this time, Reno invented a narrower standard of judgment and kept the independent counsel law - enacted after Watergate soiled the credibility of our government’s executive branch - on the shelf.

And so the air of scandal grows. Next, Reno as well as others may keep investigating allegations more serious than the phone calls she focused on - such as attempted influence buying by China, now happily anticipating the nuclear reactors Clinton recently agreed to provide.

How does this matter? Congressman George Nethercutt notes that even Clinton’s own party did not trust him enough this fall to provide fast-track trade authority that would have helped Northwest farmers and industries compete in the global market. Clinton also lacked support from U.S. allies in his standoff with Iraq over biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Americans cynical about politics but happy with the economy give Clinton good ratings in the polls. Comparing our time with the Watergate era, Nethercutt muses that the public seems “more tolerant of misconduct.” Clinton is not alone in creating lowered expectations. Congress, next year, could raise expectations by taking another look at campaign finance reform.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board