President draws mixed reviews locally

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Nevada political science professors gave President Clinton good grades for highlighting education in his State of the Union address but mixed reviews of his speech overall.

Larry Tomlinson and Royse Smith of the Community College of Southern Nevada, and Eric Herzik of the University of Nevada, Reno, noted that Clinton was more detailed Tuesday night on education than any other issue.

But while Tomlinson said he thought the speech was upbeat, Smith and Herzik opined that Clinton rambled and delivered better State of the Union addresses previously.

"He was definitely appealing to the Republicans to join in bipartisan domestic policy," Tomlinson said. "I noticed on most occasions (House) Speaker Newt Gingrich was applauding."

Smith observed that Clinton re-asserted himself as an initiator of legislative programs. But the professor said Clinton drifted from Republican philosophies of volunteerism to Democratic medical reforms.

"He was just all over the map," Smith said.

Herzik was the most critical, terming the address a "formula speech" that was mostly flat and contained few surprises.

"It's like a lecture you've done too many times," he said. "This was Bill Clinton the centrist. He stressed bipartisanship from the very first paragraph of his speech."

Tomlinson was pleased Clinton highlighted a proposed $1,500 tax credit for the first two years of college, a campaign pledge he made last year.

"I can see my college president rubbing his hands together, and planning to put up new buildings," Tomlinson said. "It's also neat he (Clinton) wants to put computers in every school."

Smith, too, applauded the president's education package. He appreciated Clinton's plan to provide Internet access in children's hospitals.

"It's time for someone to address the fact it's much cheaper to educate people than incarcerate them," Smith said.

But Herzik added that education spending is a safe road for Clinton to take because it constitutes such a small percentage of the federal budget. The professor noted that the president's plan to boost education spending by $51 billion for fiscal 1998 is a drop in the bucket in a $1.5 trillion budget.

"It's safe politics," Herzik said. "Who is going to be against giving kids more opportunities to attend college?"

The professors agreed one of the biggest potential fights between Clinton and the GOP-led Congress will be over balancing the budget. Clinton said he wants to square the budget by 2002 but opposes a balanced budget constitutional amendment favored by Republicans.

Tomlinson said he agreed with the president, noting that a constitutional amendment could prove troublesome should the nation require additional funds to fight a war. But he observed that congressional Republicans sat still when Clinton voiced opposition to a balanced budget amendment.

Smith further observed that Republicans didn't snicker during Clinton's speech as they had in the past. By showing restraint, Smith said the Republicans will avoid some of the negative public reaction they received in the past for their behavior during Clinton speeches.

"There were one or two groans, and that was all," Smith said.

The GOP response from Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., also drew lukewarm reaction from the academicians. Herzik said that much like Clinton, Watts was short on details.

"It was long on cliches," Herzik said. "Who is going to argue that they're against strong values?"

Tomlinson said the GOP was wise to use Watts rather than a more antagonistic Republican such as Gingrich. Smith added that Watts' response represented "a wonderful showcase for a bright new star in the Republican Party," but was otherwise dry and unoriginal.

State of the Union addresses normally rate lead billing in newspapers and in television news broadcasts. But with the guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson civil trial handed down the same evening, Herzik and Smith predicted most media outlets would give Clinton's address second billing.

"O.J. will top the State of the Union, which tells you the speech was boring," Herzik said.