Susan Greco was never part of the “lynch Bill Clinton” crowd and, in fact, found much to like in the president. That changed Monday night.
“This is Nixon all over again,” said Greco, 37, who watched Clinton’s nationally televised mea culpa at the bar she manages on Irving Park Road near Ashland Avenue. “You know what? I’m worried about his kid.”
In the days to come, pundits undoubtedly will dissect Clinton’s speech and pollsters will parse every nuance and quibble as they measure American public opinion.
Greco aside, however, Clinton’s carefully couched admission that he had a relationship with a White House intern that was “not appropriate” seemed to do little to sway the views of a random sampling of Chicagoans.
Those who disliked Clinton to begin with still felt that way, and many said he should be driven from office.
Clinton supporters, by and large, seemed satisfied with his explanation and agreed with the president that he and his family should be spared any more public humiliation.
Beverly Kazel, 66, watched the speech in her Northwest Side home and found herself in full agreement with Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank’s post-speech assessment that the special prosecutor’s office under Kenneth Starr had evolved into “the national crotch patrol.”
“They’re like a bunch of old men with their tongues hanging out wanting to know all the details,” Kazell said. “What’s the purpose? To embarrass the president, to embarrass America? It’s ridiculous.”
In Park Ridge, hometown of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, real estate agent Paula Le Bree took time out from late-night negotiations on a house sale to listen to Clinton on radio. Le Bree, who said she voted for Clinton without much enthusiasm two years ago, pronounced herself unimpressed and unsurprised by his remarks.
“I would have liked to hear more nuts-and-bolts answers,” Le Bree said. “There was no real meat or substance to this speech.”
Le Bree agreed with Clinton that the prying into his personal life had gone too far. Clinton’s misbehavior pales in comparison with the misdeeds that forced Richard Nixon out of office, Le Bree said.
“Nixon let his staff commit illegal acts, lied about it and tried to cover it up,” Le Bree said. “Clinton made some very poor personal decisions. I don’t think they’re in the same league.”
But Nancy Gladkin, 38, of Lombard, a longtime Republican, said she found Clinton the more despicable of the two troubled presidents.
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“I was hoping he would say, `Yes, I lied, and I shouldn’t be in office,’ ” said Gladkin, who owns a Carol Stream blueprinting company. “I was hoping he’d do the honorable thing.”
To underscore her feelings, Gladkin put a sign in the window of her home after watching the speech. It read in bold letters: “Impeach Clinton.”
In Orland Park, about 45 patrons were present in the Charley Horse bar when the six television sets were switched briefly from a preseason football game to Clinton. The atmosphere didn’t change much, however.
As Clinton began his speech, 38-year-old John Golembiewski, a manager for an import company, screamed, “Deluded, deluded!” at one set. Keven Mikols, 36, another patron, joined in the chorus: “Coverup! Coverup!”
Afterward, Golembiewski said he thought Clinton deserved impeachment. “He gave no answers,” Golembiewski said. “I’m not satisfied with his explanation.”
But another patron, Jay Cyr, 38, of Woodridge, said that he felt more sadness than outrage after hearing Clinton. “I feel sorry for his family and his wife, but I don’t believe it has anything to do with the way he runs the country.”
Rita McGrath of Orland Park rushed from the Charley Horse minutes before the speech so she could watch it at home. But she pronounced sentence on Clinton even before she left.
“I just think he needs some psychological help,” McGrath said. “I hope as a result of this, he gets some.”