JOURNALIST OFFERS WITTY, SERIOUS WASHINGTON VIEW

"Be happy Bill Clinton really doesn't believe in much," Robert Novak told an audience of more than 100 people at the Show Me Center Monday night.

Novak, a 35-year veteran journalist and conservative commentator, delighted the crowd with a witty and at times serious look at the federal government and its leaders.

"I am known as the Prince of Darkness in Washington, D.C.," Novak prefaced his speech. "That's because very little has happened there in the last 35 years that I approve of."

Novak joked that he consulted with his principal political adviser, Art Buchwald, prior to the evening's commentary. "He told me that he worships the very quicksand that the president walks on," Novak said, much to the delight of the audience.

"I think that's kind of a harsh judgment," he said. "I think the president isn't doing such a bad job at all - it's her husband that's screwing up."

Novak delved deep into his perceptions on why George Bush lost the November election, why Ross Perot was such a pivotal figure in the election, and where the country is headed under the Clinton regime.

There were two reasons Bush was defeated in the November polls, Novak said. He attributed the loss to Bush raising taxes when he pledged to the American people that he would not, and that the president was fundamentally out of touch with the common man.

But Novak said that Clinton could quickly find himself in the same situation as did Bush.

"Clinton is a politician - he lived in the private sector for two years when he was not governor of Arkansas," Novak said. "He comes into the White House as the president who has spent the least amount of time in the private sector. That will hurt him."

Although he does not place much faith in Ross Perot or his "inconsistent politics," Novak said that the American people need Perot.

"We need someone to keep an eye on Clinton ... and the Republican Party ... (Perot) is our voice of dissension when government gets out of control."

Despite his political loyalties, Novak offered the audience Clinton's three greatest assets - which could prove to pull the president out of the rut he is digging for himself and could even prove to get him re-elected.

"He plays on the question of envy," Novak said. "It is a part of the human condition ... a part that politicians are especially susceptible to.

"Clinton will say that if you are having a hard time and can't make ends meet, and the guy across the street is doing well for himself, that you should be able to take some of what he has," he said.

Secondly, Novak said that the desire of big businesses to survive - at whatever the cost - will work to Clinton's favor.

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who were to the right of Bush and Reagan's policies, have now gotten into bed with Clinton," Novak said. "And what they hope to gain is the benefits of being on the inside looking out - so that they will not be hurt in future policies."

Novak said that the Republican Party itself could bolster Clinton's image in the eyes of the American people.

"Harry Truman once said, `Never underestimate the stupidity of a Republican,'" Novak said. "We are bickering about who should and who should not belong to the Republican Party when we should be standing behind the people who understand the concepts which would return the Republican Party to a commanding stature."

He said that the issues the Republicans need to bring to the forefront of domestic policy are tax and social issues.

Novak left the audience with three glimmers of hope for the future.

He said that citizens should be happy that Clinton has the leeway to change his mind on any issues he sees "going down the tube."

Also, he said that this country has risen to greatness in the last century in spite of - not because of - the politicians. "We've really had a crummy bunch" of presidents, he said.

Finally, because of the populist belief that free markets are on the cutting edge and the wave of the future, the country is destined to survive.

"Wave of the future is a loaded term," Novak said. "I use it in terms of people who believe in freedom. We are the wave of the future - we just have to hold on."

Novak is featured on CNN's "Evans and Novak," "The Capital Gang" and "CrossFire" political commentary shows.