Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
GOP Women Want Dems Outrage Outloud
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stirring memories of the Anita Hill
> sexual harassment controversy, Republican women in
> Congress are prodding their Democratic counterparts to
> speak up on behalf of President Clinton's accuser,
> Kathleen Willey.
>
> So far, they haven't found any takers.
>
> ``I wish they would talk,'' said Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.,
> one of a group of GOP women who met privately this week
> after Mrs. Willey's television interview. In a widely
> watched 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday night, the former
> White House aide said Clinton fondled her in a hallway
> just outside the Oval Office in 1993.
>
> ``I would say the Democratic women (in Congress) have
> shown themselves to be very selectively outraged,'' said
> Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., contending they had spoken up
> ``when it suited their political agenda.''
>
> She said Mrs. Willey's account and the White House
> response raised ``some very important issues'' in terms
> of attitudes conveyed to male employers and female
> employees in workplaces across the nation.
>
> In general, Democrats dismiss comparisons to Ms. Hill,
> who in 1991 accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence
> Thomas of inappropriate sexual behavior. They note that
> Ms. Hill initially had been denied a hearing before a
> Senate committee, whereas Mrs. Willey has appeared
> before a grand jury and aired her story on television.
>
> With the president denying all charges by Mrs. Willey --
> and Clinton's polling data reflecting consistently
> strong support -- Democratic women are displaying a
> reticence to express an opinion on her credibility.
>
> Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland refused to say whether
> she found Mrs. Willey's interview believable. ``I can't
> have an opinion until the judicial system works,'' she
> said.
>
> Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois reluctantly stepped
> before microphones recently to answer questions on the
> subject but declined to say whether she found Mrs.
> Willey's claims credible.
>
> Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Patty Murray of
> Washington both issued written statements noting the
> seriousness of the charges and calling for prompt
> investigation but refraining from any expression of
> support for Mrs. Willey.
>
> In an interview, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California
> sidestepped the question of credibility, finding fault
> instead with what she said were ``much too specific
> questions'' in the television interview.
>
> ``I found them offensive,'' she said of the questions
> that elicited Mrs. Willey's occasionally halting, yet
> unambiguous allegation of a Clinton sexual advance.
>
> ``I was stunned by the fact that network television had
> resorted to asking these kinds of questions to a woman
> who is vulnerable,'' she added.
>
> Said Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, ``I don't know who to
> believe.''
>
> Ms. Lowey was part of a delegation of Democratic women
> that walked from the House to the Senate in 1991 to
> dramatize their demand that Ms. Hill be given a chance
> to air her accusations against Thomas.
>
> Ms. Hill was accusing a Republican nominee whom many
>
> Democrats were eager to see defeated. Democrats rallied
> to her side, and the political fallout was extensive.
>
> Moseley-Braun, Boxer and Murray won their Senate seats a
> year later, part of a group of women who benefited from
> a wave of voter unhappiness at the treatment Ms. Hill
> had received. All three are on the ballot this fall.
>
> Thus far, at least, Clinton's popularity does not appear
> to be suffering. An ABC news survey conducted Tuesday
> pegged his job approval at 66 percent, including 64
> percent among men and 68 percent among women. The survey
> included 505 adults, and had a margin of error of plus
> or minus 4.5 percent.
>
> Clinton's continued popularity in the wake of persistent
> allegations of extramarital sexual activities has amazed
> Democrats -- some of whom were passing recent survey
> data around the House floor during the day -- as well as
> Republicans.
>
> Mrs. Willey is ``getting very little support and that is
> one of the issues,'' said Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio.
> She added that the former White House aide ``has a cadre
> of the entire White House and its entire political
> apparatus coming down on her head to impeach and impugn
> her.''
>
> In interviews, several of the GOP lawmakers expressed
> anger at a White House attempt to undermine Mrs.
> Willey's credibility by releasing letters she sent the
> president after the alleged incident.
>
> Rep. Linda Smith,. R-Wash., also expressed anger that
> the White House had been attempting to depict Mrs.
> Willey as out for financial gain.
>
> ``The idea that any woman wants to go out and talk about
> it. ... It's humiliating, it's demeaning,'' she said.
--
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1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
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