It looks like President Bill Clinton's "bridge to the 21st century" is going to start out with some new construction.

A week or so before the election there were rumors flying around about lots of Clinton cabinet members bailing out of the administration.

On Thursday, we got the story from Associated Press.

The list of those either going or likely to go includes Hazel O'Leary, energy; William Perry, defense; Warren Christopher, state; Mickey Kantor, commerce; Federico Pena, transportation; Henry Cisneros, housing; Robert Reich, labor; ambassador Walter Mondale; and senior adviser George Stephanopolous.

Also, the administration is trying to convince Attorney General Janet Reno that she should leave, but she wants to stay.

I'll bet FBI director Louis Freeh, under fire recently because of the Olympic bomber case and other FBI flubs, might be under pressure, too.

Now check out the spin the venerable Associated Press puts on the post-election story about all these defections:

"Preparing for a second term, President Clinton's administration is rapidly changing, beginning with the departure of two of its pillars: Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Defense Secretary William Perry."

And:

"Clinton's object is to pump new vigor into his administration as it begins a second and final four years."

Those are AP's words. They aren't quoting anybody. Makes it sound like it's all Bill's idea, doesn't it?

I don't know about Bill Clinton, but I hate to have to fill vacancies. I cringe when I have to hire but one staffer.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have to come up with a whole bunch of top people all at once.

One must wonder why all these folks would bail out anyway.

Could it be that they - just like many other people - see dark clouds hovering over Clinton's second term?

Clinton certainly has more than his share of skeletons rattling around in his White House closets.

This Democratic National Committee thing is going to be huge. The DNC has already returned hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions. There will certainly be congressional hearings. More than likely, Reno will appoint an independent counsel to look into the possibility of criminal activity.

Sometimes I get this "serves 'em right" attitude about all the problems in the Clinton administration. I want to see him held accountable for everything.

I realize that's counterproductive. The more Clinton is distracted, the less effective he will be as a leader. But somebody, ultimately, must be held accountable.

What seems a bit odd is that voters apparently don't feel that way.

I was watching election returns Tuesday night. One of the networks - I don't remember which one because I was switching back and forth so much - had this 60,000-person exit poll going.

One of the questions they asked was, "Do you consider President Clinton to be honest and trustworthy?" Fifty-four percent of the people surveyed said no.

Another question was, "Do you think President Clinton is telling the truth about Whitewater?" Sixty percent of the people said no.

But then, 49 percent of them voted for him anyway. Hard to figure, isn't it?

Clinton may have won re-election, but he doesn't have much of a popular mandate from the people if most of them don't think he's trustworthy.

Fact is, Clinton was forced to co-opt all manner of conservative ideas to get re-elected. Things like tax cuts, welfare reform and a balanced budget.

And professional politician that he is, he pulled it off masterfully. Over the past year or so, Clinton was sounding positively conservative. And the voters bought it.

Couple this with the fact that voters left the majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the hands of Republicans and it seems conservatism is alive and well in the U.S.

So now, a bold prediction (please clip and save this for a couple years so you can mail it to me later and tell me what a fool I am).

If you think there was a Republican revolution in 1994, wait until 1998. In the next congressional election, I predict Republican gains in the House and Senate. Maybe even enough for veto-proof legislation.

Who knows? Another Clinton administration might just be the shot in the arm conservatism needs.

That's my post-election spin. Only difference between me and AP is that I label my stuff opinion. [[In-content Ad]]