Taking a Stand Against the Culture of Corruption

Roll Call newspaper has the obligatory story today about how, if Democrats make ethics/corruption their central theme in 2006, they will supposedly look like hypocrites because a few Democrats have been embroiled in scandals. The story is classic for Roll Call, a paper that is nothing more than a transcription service for party hacks. This one parrots the most stale conventional wisdom being spewed out by a Republican Party on the ropes.

What's funny about it, though, is how ridiculous the premise is. One GOP hack is quoted as saying Democrats "can’t run a national campaign on an issue when their own house is dirty." That statement flies in the face of various national campaigns that have been run like this.

For instance, how about John McCain's (R) 2000 presidential run? McCain, you may recall, was famous for his involvement in the Keating 5 scandal - a pay-to-play controversy. McCain, however, ran for president on campaign finance reform and cleaning up government, even though his "house was dirty." What he did was acknowledge his own transgressions, and use them to show why he believed we need to clean up our political system. Now, its true, McCain didn't win the Republican primary, but few would say that his run was "unsuccessful."

Similarly, the Republican Party in 1994 ran on "cleaning up Washington" even though they were guilty of the same things they accused Democrats of.

Let's hope Democrats in Washington read this Roll Call piece as a sign of GOP weakness, and don't actually buy into this nonsense. Standing up for change even though it may hurt a few within your ranks shows guts - and that's something the Democrats haven't displayed for far too long.

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