Day Care, Medicare Advocates Await Clinton's Address

Billie Burney believes it's a really good idea, especially being a parent with a child in after school care.

None of the parents with kids at the Raleigh YWCA have a problem with the president's newest proposal. But they wonder if he can deliver on that program or any others, with the Monica Lewinsky controversy swirling around him.

"I think he's gonna try to do business as usual, things he needs to to focus on like this, the situation in Iraq," Burney says. "I think he's gonna try to do his job, but I think it's gonna be hard."

Others seem to resent Clinton paying attention to anything but the work at hand.

Parent M.L. Boergert believes that if Clinton bypasses his responsibility to children and adults because of a person problem, he's not doing his job.

Political analyst Andrew Taylor says even if Clinton can concentrate on things like the State of the Union address, it will be hard for anyone else to.

"Until this is resolved in one way or another," Taylor explain, "it's gonna be very difficult for him to sort of get the public and get the congress rallied behind these kinds of initiatives."

A legislative affairs expert with the North Carolina AARP agrees. Evalyn Brendel believes the public is being diverted from looking and thinking about some very complex issues.

Some ideas that have AARP's attention include lowering the minimum age for Medicare, and a variety of changes to Social Security. You can bet that group, along with many others, will be anxious to hear what the president says Tuesday night.