CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW

        On an asphalt parking lot, beneath a 97-degree Summer day almost six years ago, my wife, Rosemary, and I waited more than an hour to hear what Bill Clinton and Al Gore had to say, to see why we should vote them into their first term of office. We had driven almost two hours to get to this rally, the first of a cross-country bus tour following the national convention.
        "We are out to change the political process!"said Al Gore to the cheers of more than 1,000 people. "We are out to change the government!"He had us chanting the campaign mantra that as far as incumbents Bush and Quayle were concerned, "It's time for them to go!"
        But it was Bill Clinton who electrified the audience, made us want to be a part of the political process. "If we take the elections away from the special interests,"said Clinton, "and the government away from the lobbyists and give them back to you, America can be great again!"If you didn't know any better, these two politicians sounded like idealist `60s radicals. It made no difference if it was Clinton, Perot, Bush, or Daffy Duck who said it, this crowd was going to cheer anyone who promised a change in government, who promised hope.
        Their campaign, said Clinton, is "a wake-up call to America."It is a future of education, he declared. It is a future for the "sons and daughters of stenographers and steelworkers and truck drivers to be able to go to college if they want to."
        With Gore on the ticket, the party's commitment to the environment was established. "We believe we can protect the world's environment and create jobs at the same time,"said Clinton.
        "The cost of health care,"said the Governor, reflecting concerns of his wife, Hillary, "is spinning out of control. We want health care for all our people, not just a few."
        On the asphalt, by the campaign buses after the crowd began to leave, and before a lunch with some truckers, Clinton and Gore, dressed in jeans, sneaks, and casual shirts, tossed a football back and forth and traded quips with staff, politicians, and reporters. One of their staff noticed a miniature golf course nearby; they went there, trailed by photographers, secure in the knowledge that the next day's news coverage would show a candidate who was a part of the people, who made "People First!"as his campaign promised. For awhile, it seemed as if Clinton was resurrecting the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy.
        After the Clintons and Gores and a few assorted politicians had lunch with some truckers, and my wife and I had sandwiches with reporters at a nearby hotel that was serving as a temporary local headquarters, the candidates returned. There were only a couple of dozen people now, and the campaign, as it would do all Summer and into the Fall, was running late. But, Clinton and Gore found us. When Bill Clinton shakes your hand, he looks through your eyes and into your soul, and you believe he cares about you and what you want to tell him—and, maybe, he does. He looked into my wife's eyes, shook her hand, and chatted. A minute, perhaps, maybe two at the most, but long enough to make her, and eventually me, hope there would be a new America beginning in 1993.
        We believed in the charismatic populism of these two men who wanted to change America, while tolerating the ineptness of the campaign staff who had not yet learned to discard their arrogant pomposity and become a part of the middle America the candidates needed to reach. It's been almost six years since we first met the men who would become president and vice-president, and their idealism has been tarnished by a Congress more intent upon blocking reform and keeping their political agenda than in leading a country, and a President who has committed many indiscretions in his life. We saw our President vacillate, pragmatically changing as political expediency demanded, and become the leader of a "new Democrat"philosophy that looked more moderate Republican than liberal Democrat. It's political survival, we sighed, knowing Clinton is very good at that, but we sighed, nevertheless.
        Last Saturday afternoon, my wife and I went to see Primary Colors, the 2-1/2 hour movie about an idealistic Southern governor in his first presidential campaign. We laughed. We snickered. And we cried. For what has happened to Mr. Clinton. For what Mr. Clinton has done to his own credibility. For what has happened to America's idealism. But, more important, for allowing ourselves to be so manipulated that we believe sex scandals are more important than health care and worker rights, and for allowing our government to spend more than $40 million for an "independent prosecutor,"three dozen lawyers and dozens of more staff assistants and clerks, who have thrown a shroud of terror over our Constitution and personal liberties, demanding lists of what people have read and threatening witnesses who may have only tangential evidence of whatever it is he thinks he's investigating.
        It took less than two years for a special prosecutor to present a damaging case against Richard Nixon who was forced to resign; it has taken twice as long for this special prosecutor, who has even flimsier evidence, and who has yet to make a case against the President. There is no doubt the special inquisitor, now salivating for what he thinks is a kill, will find just enough evidence to hang an indiscrete president. There is also no doubts that the investigation, cheered and manipulated by the Republicans, desperate to reclaim the White House, will force America into a political stagnation of sex and scandal.
        There are more than two years left in President Clinton's administration. The President has already given business five years of a great economic ride. But, I keep thinking about tomorrow, worrying about which of our liberties is being destroyed, hoping for a restoration of my faith in government. The latest polls indicate most Americans support the President. Maybe with the Paula Jones case thrown out of court as having no legal basis, this nation may give the President a little time so he may restore his—and our—idealism.