c. 1999 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, a harsh critic of President Clinton who has long called for his removal from office, said Wednesday (Jan. 20) that Clinton”hit a home run”with his State of the Union address and”the matter of impeachment is over.” Speaking on his”700 Club”television program, Robertson’s comments came in response to a question from Christian Broadcasting Network news anchor Lee Webb about Clinton’s Tuesday night speech. Webb noted that opinion polls taken following the speech showed that Clinton’s already high standing with the public had climbed even higher.

Clearly frustrated, Robertson replied:”As far as I’m concerned the matter of impeachment is over. The Republicans gave him an absolute platform to talk to the American people. He hit a home run in his speech.”Whatever happens to the agenda doesn’t really matter. From a public relations standpoint, he’s won. … Clinton’s won. They might as well dismiss the impeachment hearing and get on with something else because it’s over as far as I’m concerned.” Robertson’s remarks came as the Senate spent a second day listening to Clinton’s attorneys defend him against impeachment charges voted by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

For the past year, Robertson has been among the most vocal of the many religious conservatives who have called for Clinton’s ouster because of his admitted indiscretions with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Some have urged Clinton to resign. But Robertson maintained that God’s justice demanded that Clinton face the punishment of impeachment.

Speaking last September at a Washington meeting of the Christian Coalition _ an organization he founded _ an angry Robertson said Clinton had turned the White House into”a playpen for the sexual freedom of the poster child of the 1960s.”Clinton, he added, had”debauched, debased and defamed”the presidency by engaging in”triple X-rated”behavior.

Dismissing moderate religious leaders who said that Clinton had repented for his actions and deserved forgiveness, Robertson said”the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a God of law and justice”and that”his justice still remains firm.” In an October Christian Coalition mailing, Robertson wrote that Clinton had broken”God’s commandments”and that the coalition”will use every grassroots tool we have at hand”to oust the president”and awaken Congress to this demand.” Robertson’s reaction to the State of the Union address was circulated Wednesday by People for the American Way, a liberal public policy group in Washington that is as critical of Robertson and the Christian Coalition as religious conservatives are of Clinton. People for the American Way is on record as opposing the president’s impeachment.

In a statement, Carole Shields, the group’s president, said”even Pat Robertson recognizes that’s it time to move on. When the founder and chairman of the Christian Coalition and the president of People for the American Way agree on an issue of this magnitude, it is indeed time to end it in the Senate.” Patti Silverman, a Robertson spokeswoman, said Shields was wrong to characterize Robertson as being in agreement with her. Robertson, she said, was”expressing his own views.” Polls released Wednesday by ABC, CBS and NBC showed that the public’s approval of Clinton after his speech ranged from 66 percent to 76 percent. The polls showed that the speech improved Clinton’s approval rating by three to five percentage points.

In his speech, Clinton outlined a series of policy goals that included keeping Social Security solvent until 2055, improving public education and providing tax credits for parents of young children and those with long-term health-care needs. He concluded that”America is working again”and painted a rosy appraisal of the nation’s future.

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