Anthony Gunde, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, July 18, 2001

The rally came a few days after Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., became the first member of Congress to call on Condit to resign for allegedly obstructing the police investigation.

FreeRepublic.com, an independent political activist group headquartered in Fresno, Calif., organized the demonstration. About 60 people took part in the rally, but no relatives of the missing former intern were on hand.

"A lot of people are upset with Congressman Condit," said Saundra Duffy, head of the Central Valley Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. Condit, a Democrat, represents the Central Valley area of California.

"From the beginning of the investigation, Representative Condit withheld information that would have helped to find her. It would have been good if he had come clean at that time, and the investigators could have had information about her frame of mind and what she was going through," Duffy said.

She said she was impressed with the diverse representation of the demonstrators as an indication that it was a concern of all citizens, regardless of party affiliation.

"There was one lady in her 70s who is a Democrat and voted for Condit, and her sign said, 'Condit you are not a blue dog, you are a yellow dog.' She is very hurt for voting for this person who turned out with bad character," Duffy said.

The demonstrators, led by Duffy, delivered a letter to Condit's chief of staff, Mike Lynch, calling for the congressman's resignation.

Barr said Friday that although Condit passed his self-serving lie detector test, it would not erase the fact that he misled the lawful conduct of a police investigation.

The New Republic, a liberal magazine, also lashed out at Condit's behavior in an editorial.

"The first, precious days after a disappearance offer police and family members ... their best chance to find a missing person. After that, the trail usually goes cold. And those early days were partly wasted, because Representative Gary Condit cared more about his political career than about the life of a woman he supposedly considered a good friend," said the magazine's editors.

According to press reports, Condit's aides have expressed full confidence in their boss, saying they are "like a family."

"We love this guy. He's been very good to us. We are not going anywhere," said Press Secretary Randy Groves on reports that some of them were going to resign. Lynch said that when there is a difficult time, family pulls together.

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