The US: The US mid-term election campaign got under way yesterday, Labour Day, with Democrats fearing damaging fall-out from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the Starr report expected soon.
For President Clinton there was a further blow as the leader of his own Baptist church called for his resignation "before he is instrumental in corrupting all our young people".
The Rev Paige Patterson, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that Mr Clinton should resign "for the sake of the country" and seek forgiveness for his personal transgressions.
The Baptist convention is the biggest Protestant denomination in the US with 15.6 million members.
Mr Patterson said in a sermon at the weekend that President Clinton, who has admitted having had "an improper relationship" with Ms Lewinsky, was no different from other people in seeking forgiveness. "If he'll repent and trust the Lord Jesus as his saviour, he can be forgiven and can find what life isreally all about."
Newsweek magazine has predicted meanwhile that the report by the independent counsel Mr Kenneth Starr could be sent to Congress as early as this week. Republican and Democratic congressional leaders are to meet today to discuss how the report will be handled by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives when it arrives.
The committee, chaired by Mr Henry Hyde, is said to be seeking extensive powers to call witnesses and cite them for contempt if they fail to appear. The committee will then recommend to the full House whether Mr Clinton should beimpeached or not. If the committee votes for impeachment, the full House would then vote on an impeachment resolution.
In the case of a vote for impeachment, the president would be tried by the Senate in proceedings presided over by the Chief Justice. A conviction would require a two-thirds majority of the 100 members.
Republicans are now hoping to win an extra five seats in the election for one-third of the Senate next November, which would bring their strength to 60. This would mean that Republicans could block any attempts to delay legislation bythe tactic of filibustering.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election. The Democrats hoped, up to recently, that they could win an extra 11 seats to give them a majority. Such hopes have now receded in the backlash from President Clinton's TV address on August 17th, admitting to an affair with MsLewinsky, but avoiding a full apology.
The condemnation of President Clinton by the Democratic senator, Mr Joseph Lieberman, on the Senate floor last week has shaken the party. Other senators and a number of Congress members have followed with their own criticisms of the president's conduct in denying his affair with Ms Lewinsky for seven months, and wrong-footing Democrats who had strongly defended him during that time.
The White House will be watching this week for further reactions from Democrats as they return to Washington from their constituencies, where they will have heard more public reaction to the president's predicament.