ANYONE who thinks that Howell Raines' resignation will restore editorial balance to The New York Times is in for a sad disappointment. The following excerpt from my book, "Off with Their Heads: Traitors, Crooks and Obstructionists in American Politics, Media and Business" (published today), examines an incident that shows the partisan tilt of Joseph Lelyveld, Raines' successor - and predecessor - as the Times' executive editor. During the 1996 presidential campaign, Lelyveld told me, as he sought an exclusive interview with President Clinton, that he did not feel "the public cares about what happened back in Arkansas." His implied commitment to pull coverage of the scandals that dogged Clinton throughout his first term illustrates how facile is the hope that he can restore non-partisanship to the Times.

Indeed, in the two months before Election Day '96, the Times ran no stories on its front page about Paula Jones, the Rose Law Firm, Hillary's billing records and only lightly covered Whitewater.

Here's the story:[...]