Partisanship is evident locally
Published on December 23rd, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - With the U.S. House of Representatives' recent vote to impeach President Bill Clinton being made clearly along party lines, we at the Stoneham Independent thought it would be interesting to see where local legislators stood on the issue.
State Senator Richard Tisei (R, 3rd Middlesex District) and State Representative-elect Michael Festa (D, 35th Middlesex District) were contacted and, while both voiced their displeasure with the partisan wars being waged in Washington D.C., their opinions on what action President Clinton should now take were predictable given their party affiliations.
According to Senator Tisei, President should resign from office and give way to his vice president, Al Gore.
"I think the best thing for the country right now would be for Clinton to resign," he said. "I think, for the good of the country, it would probably be best if he stepped aside and let the vice president take over."
Tisei went on to say that the focus on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal had gone on for too long and continues to impede on the real troubles that face the nation.
"It's extremely disheartening to see," he said of the scandal, itself. "People should be paying more attention to the issues that affect us. Nothing has really had a chance to be dealt with in some time."
Representative-elect Festa agreed with the senator in the respect that the scenario should fade into the background. He differed, however, on his opinion of what result should come from the hearings.
"I would expect to see censure of some type, but I certainly wouldn't want to see any impeachment," he said. "It's obviously a very historic happening."
Both legislators said that partisanship has played too large a role in the scandal.
"There's no other way to spin it, really," Festa said of the two articles of impeachment that passed Congress (perjury, obstruction of justice) on Saturday. "It was a straight party vote. It's amazing how the same set of facts could be viewed in such radically different ways."
Tisei speculated that the political air of Washington D.C. may have tainted the proceedings.
"I think the whole atmosphere is rather poisonous down there. It's just an unhealthy situation on both sides of the aisle," he said. "It seems as though, the past few years, that the legislators have focused on their partisan wars rather than what's good for the country.
"It's unfortunate that it got to this point."
Of the issue now at the hands of the U.S. Senate, Tisei said that Clinton had certainly committed some offenses.
"I don't view it as an issue of sex," he said, explaining that the president's lies are the true heart of the matter. "He didn't tell the truth.
"I think most people would like to see this swept under the rug... but the fact that he did lie won't just go away. It's not something where you can just slap him on the wrist and say, 'Don't do that again.'"
Festa had a different view.
"You can condemn the behavior without condemning the person," he said. "If the purpose (of the impeachment proceedings) was to punish the president, I think he's already been humiliated.
"I think it is quite clear that some official reprimand is required."
Tisei explained that he wanted Clinton to resign not only for the good of the country, but also for his own sake. He also gave some reasons why many recent polls show Clinton's approval ratings at all-time highs.
"Nobody wants to see the president thrown out of office. You have to have respect for the office," the senator explained.
"I think most people just want it to go away. I certainly do. People probably don't want to shake things up.
"You just have to trust the judgement of the legislators."
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