Getting Out the Wrecking Ball

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Much of the discontent is aimed at Clinton. The President has been unable to decide on how to replace Rubin at the NEC or Mike Espy at Agriculture. The race to take over the Democratic National Committee has cooled since the party discovered a $5 million debt. Nor has Clinton been able to persuade anyone to take charge of his re-election effort. One reason: few believe Clinton can prevent his wife, his top White House aides or his outside consultants from taking over.

Rather than wait until the State of the Union address to launch his legislative counterattack, Clinton planned a speech for this week. He did so partly because he didn't want to give the Republicans "a free ride for the next 60 days," said an Administration official. But Clinton also feared that the nation was beginning to tune him out. Last Friday, after delivering a forceful defense of free trade at the Americas Summit in Miami, Clinton met privately with 30 lawmakers from both parties. Wisconsin Republican Toby Roth, a fierce conservative, stood up and suggested the election might have gone Clinton's way had he struck such a probusiness tone in October. "Thank you for saying those things now," said Roth, "and not before the election." Clinton laughed and replied, "I don't think anyone would have listened before the election anyway." Maybe not, but as he starts over yet again, Clinton is hoping Americans will listen now.

With reporting by James Carney and Adam Zagorin/Washington

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