WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, December 19) -- White House officials are resigned that a House vote to impeach President Bill Clinton will pass, but insist Republicans will not succeed in their "cynical, political strategy" aimed at removing Clinton from office.

The president is waving off calls for his resignation and seeking instead help in trying to strike a quick Senate plea bargain.

Two administration sources tell CNN that top Clinton deputies have sought advice in recent days from two former Senate majority leaders, Democrat George Mitchell and Republican Bob Dole. The White House is hoping for help in brokering a bipartisan compromise, the sources say.

The first lady made rare public comments Friday on impeachment, voicing her support for the job her husband is doing and calling for reconciliation at this holiday time.

"I think that the vast majority of Americans share my approval and pride in the job that the president's been doing for our country," said Mrs. Clinton when asked about her feelings on the House debate. (484K wav audio file)

CNN has also learned the extended House Democratic leadership will go to the White House Saturday after the impeachment vote to participate in an event in the Rose Garden with Clinton.

In any public comments on the impeachment, the president is expected to urge a speedy resolution to the matter in the Senate, while leaving complaints of partisanship to the House Democrats.

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said the GOP leadership has shifted tactics in recent days to a building drumbeat to try to force Clinton to resign.

To convince moderate Republicans to vote for impeachment, Lockhart said the GOP leadership made a "conscious effort" to "dumb down impeachment, to dumb down and say that this process wasn't important, that the real action was someplace else."

"And that having gone through it, turn 180 degrees in the other direction and say, it's so important, it's so important to this country and it's so damaging that the president should resign. I think, I think that that is a strategy that betrays partisanship and cynicism," Lockhart said.

Will the president resign? Vice President Al Gore said Friday, "People can forget about that."

The vice president, who has been taking the lead recently in the White House's anti-impeachment efforts, said in a radio interview with American Urban Radio Network that he was "fighting mad" about the Republicans' conduct in the impeachment debate.

Gore was asked if GOP leaders, particularly Speaker-elect Bob Livingston and Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, who both have confessed to extramarital affairs, were hypocrites for pursuing Clinton over his relationship with ex-intern Monica Lewinsky.

"Well, I'm not going to get into their personal lives, but I'll tell you this: I am fighting mad about the way they are carrying out this impeachment matter," Gore said. He accused the leadership of "cracking the whip and threatening the members of their party to fall into line" on the impeachment vote scheduled for Saturday.

Lockhart said the White House continued to believe the best outcome was a tough censure resolution and criticized the Republican leadership for not allowing that option to come to a vote. He said the GOP's goal was to force the president to resign, something Clinton has steadfastly refused even to consider.

Behind the scenes, senior administration officials scornfully cast the proceedings as a partisan vendetta against the president. "A disgusting display of raw politics," one senior adminstration official called the debate, "a stunning display that the Republican leadership is not interested in the views of the American people."

Other sources said Chief of Staff John Podesta urged administration aides Friday not to be discouraged by the House impeachment proceedings. According to one top aide present, Podesta said, "this is not about the president, this is about politics."

CNN's Marc Sklar and John King contributed to this report.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

• House impeaches Clinton
• Reaction to impeachment mixed, emotional
• DeLay, Gingrich support Hastert for House speaker
• Clinton appeals for 'reasonable' compromise
• What's next in the impeachment process?
• Livingston bows out of the speakership
• Poll: Public still prefers censure
• Transcript: Clinton reacts to impeachment vote
• First lady delivers pep talk to Democrats
• White House says GOP's strategy is to get Clinton to resign
• House roll call: Article I
• House roll call: Article II
• House roll call: Article III
• House roll call: Article IV
• Clinton radio address: U.S. is vigilant on Iraq
• GOP radio address: Iraq shouldn't stall debate

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