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Published on 09/14/1998 All articles from this issue

Reaction to Clinton: From support to resign

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Local reaction to the President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky situation runs the gamut.

Some prefer to watch and wait. Some want Clinton to resign. Others are standing by their man.

"We are still very supportive of the president," said Los Altos residents Emily and Jim Thurber. "We think he shouldn't have done what he did. But the whole thing is so politicized. We feel that the president has been relentlessly pursued by his political enemies since he took office ... No purpose is served to have all of this information in the public domain. We feel the president has been punished enough."

The Thurbers are both board members of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition. They also both serve on the state Democratic Party executive committee, elected from the county. Jim is a past mayor of Los Altos.

Los Altos resident Marion Grimm is also a staunch Democrat, who has financially supported the party, and she, too, stands by the president.

"I think the whole thing is a big mistake," she said. "Taping people without letting them know. How can they get away with that?"

She and her husband, Bob, attended the $5,000-per-person fund-raiser dinner for U. S. Senator Barbara Boxer at the Los Altos home of Nan and Chuck Geschke last March. Vice President Al Gore was the guest of honor.

Martin Gorfinkel, a Los Altos resident and president of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition, said he "would have been happier if Clinton had been more open sooner. I don't like it. I don't condone it."

But even "if you accept all the charges Starr has made, does it threaten the republic? Clearly it doesn't," Gorfinkel said. "It has hurt other Democrats," he said.

Lifetime Democrat and Los Altos resident Nan Geschke agrees about the damage being done to others.

Clinton is "standing in the way, inhibiting the Democratic agenda, hurting his own party," she said.

She thinks Clinton should resign. "The country is at a standstill," she said. "It's definitely a witch hunt. Nobody's private life should be so exposed." She also feels betrayed.

"It's very disheartening to have it come to this conclusion. It's sad. It's disappointing. For the good of the country, he should step away."

The Geschkes declined to attend the $25,000-per-couple dinner this Friday night at the Tech Museum in San Jose where Clinton is scheduled to serve as the centerpiece.

"We've supported him in the past," Nan said. But "I'm not inclined to give him any more money, and he's the focal point of the fund raiser." Chuck Geschke is chairman of the board and president of the San Jose-based Adobe Systems.

Los Altos Mayor Kris Casto, known for her integrity, also said Clinton should resign.

"If you're in an elected position, what you have to keep sacred is your word," she said. She said she believes Clinton has lied. "You have to be honest. The country is not being served by this."

Los Altos Hills Mayor Bob Johnson plans to "wait until the whole process has been completed, to hear both sides of the story and then decide," he said. "I have not read the Starr report. I don't read porno stuff.

"I'm a great believer in hearing both sides."