Bill Clinton: “I do, except--I have a lot of sympathy for them. But first of all, not all Democrats believe that. You see a number in…”

“I do, except--I have a lot of sympathy for them. But first of all, not all Democrats believe that. You see a number in the House, and I think probably a majority in the Senate, do not agree with that. But I think you--you have to, first of all, say, what is our obligation here to the American people? Our obligation is to work for the welfare of the country. Secondly, I think that nowhere near half the responsibility so far rests on them for the current atmosphere. I mean, they tried--we tried on the guns. We tried on a lot of other things--on campaign finance reform. We're trying on many other issues. I think that--I wouldn't overestimate the extent of that. But secondly, just as a--you know, if you look at 1996, where we got a lot done for America that year--we didn't just beat the contract on America; we actually did a lot of good things for America. The Democrats made gains in the Congress in 1998, against all the odds, against all the weight of history. We got--we passed a big education budget at the end of 1998--100,000 new teachers--and had a program to run on, and the Democrats were rewarded, against all the odds. So my view is that if you believe that Government has a role to play in our national life and you accept the fact that there will be honest and legitimate differences between the two parties on outstanding issues, no matter how much we get done, you're better off doing what you can, that you believe in, so you can go tell the people you did that. And then say, but look what still needs to be done; look what still needs to be done. Elections are always about tomorrow. So I think that--I can only tell you that I think both in terms of what is right for the American people and what is the best politics, we should keep trying to move forward. Yes. Justice Department Tobacco Litigation”