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Some are embarrassed, others are saddened, but nobody's surprised about President Clinton's newest sex scandal.
While some people interviewed Thursday by the Times-Union said they were saddened, many said Clinton's alleged affair with a White House intern fits a pattern that's continually come to light in the past five years.
Most of the 10 people interviewed think the allegations - if proven true - will not lead to the president's downfall.
Gwen Jackson, who was at Warsaw Community Public Library learning about home schooling, said she was most bothered by allegations that Clinton may have attempted to coerce the intern from telling the truth. The latest incident was the last straw, she said.
"After all that has happened, I don't think it's right that he remain in office," she said. "He's the president and the one who's supposed to abide by all the rules of the land and when he breaks one, I don't think that looks too good."
Some reaction was a little more stinging.
"It doesn't surprise me. I knew it was going to fall apart on him sooner or later." said John Lyons, 34, who brought his wife and daughter to Penguin Point for dinner Thursday night.
"'Slick Willie' was a good nickname for him. You can only be slick for so long," he said.
"There's times when I wonder if he ever exhaled," said Lyons, a resident of Etna Green. "I didn't vote for him, but I liked him at first. Maybe it was the Fleetwood Mac music.
"But it's something new every week with him and it seems to fit a pattern," Lyons said.
A few seats down, Charlotte Howett sat with a friend immersed in a Bible study, and was reserved about making a judgment. She said she wants to weigh the facts first.
"If it's true, I want him to leave office," Howett said.
"That doesn't mean I wouldn't pray for him because he definitely needs prayer," she said.
If true, she said she would be saddened because Clinton would have let down the country.
"We've got a lot of children out there who we want to believe in our country and we want to believe in the people who are in authority, and if the role model isn't there, our kids will become just like they are."
Theron Hanes, who was eating dinner with his wife, Joy, at Burger King, said he was saddened to learn of the latest alleged escapade.
"I'd hate to see anything happen to him because I don't think as much of (vice president) Al Gore as I do him," said the 76-year-old Warsaw man with a smile.
Hanes said he's uncertain what will happen.
"Since he's admitted to having an affair with (Gennifer) Flowers, that makes it more incriminating as far as I'm concerned," he said.
Only two people found the investigation into Clinton's private affairs bothersome and unwarranted.
Malta and Thomas Walters of Pierceton, seated at the McDonald's on U.S. 30, said they were upset with the investigation.
"It's his private life. If he wants to step out on his wife, that's between him and her," she said.
"We elected him. Let him do his job," she said.
A customer at the McDonald's on Detroit Street in Warsaw felt the same way.
"As long as he's doing his job, what he does in his own private time is his business," said Alicia, who declined to give her last name.
She said while most people seem intrigued with such titillating details, they probably wouldn't have to look too far to find their own faults.
"I think Republicans want him out, so any way they get him out, it doesn't really matter."
But those feelings were in the minority compared to other people interviewed.
Vern Fredericks, 40, was browsing books at the library when asked about Clinton. He said he's not surprised about the allegations, but doesn't think anything will happen.
He was asked what he thinks the source of Clinton's problems might be.
"I think he lacks integrity. He pretty much does whatever he wants to do at the moment," Fredericks said.
Boris Gregoriev, a Ukrainian student at Grace College who was looking at a foreign affairs book at the library, is amazed at the media's eagerness to cover such unsavory issues.
"What surprises me is not so much the scandal itself but the coverage it is receiving," Gregoriev said.
The private affairs of political leaders in the former Soviet Union and other countries are often not an issue for the media, he said.
But he agreed that morality is an important part of being a good leader.
"If he has faith in God (and) is accountable to God, then his relationship with his nation and his people will be stronger," he said.
Barbara Taylor, 12, and Michelle Eldridge, 13, were studying the Battle of the Midway at the library and spoke in unison. They said they thought it was kind of bad for the president to be acting as he has been accused. "He's like the role model," Taylor said.
They said they think he might have to resign.
Tim and Teresa George, of Claypool, who were watching their two children run around in the McDonald's playland along U.S. 30, said they believe the allegations based on his track record.
Since he's apparently maneuvered around other scandals, they said, he'll probably do the same with the newest scandal.
Both have served in the army and say they dislike the president for what they call his "anti-military" position.
The latest scandal seems very un-presidential, they said.
"It's a big embarrassment to the country," Teresa George said.
