Rove to GOP: Don't Blame it on Baghdad

I'm unsure whether this tidbit from the innards of the GOP should be written off as an example of championship caliber White House CYA or a dangerous 'head in the sand' escape from reality with consequences for Democrats efforts to end the war in Iraq. I'm leaning toward the latter. Recently subpoenaed White House political advisor Karl Rove is hard at work behind the scenes explaining to GOP officeholders why the Republicans lost their Congressional majorities in 2006.

It wasn't the Iraq war and the public's rejection of a failed neo-con ideology. No, it was simply a case of a few bad apples.

In the White House worldview, it appears it was the individual corrupt/criminal actions of Duke, Jack, Mark and Tom who are primarily to blame for the Democratic midterm ascendancy. Rove is making the case the election was really about the culture of corruption in DC, according to Robert Novak in a brief piece over at TownHall.

Rove's clear advice to the candidates is to distance themselves from the culture of Washington. Specifically, Republican candidates are urged to make clear they have no connection with disgraced congressmen such as Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley.
In effect, Rove was rebutting the complaint inside the party that George W. Bush is responsible for Republican miseries by invading Iraq.

Corruption undeniably played a role in tipping a handful of seats that would have never been in play if not for the actions of the GOP incumbent (TX-22 and FL-16) but to make the argument the majorities were lost because of Foley and Abramoff is a huge stretch. This analysis ignores the federal response to Katrina, unprecedented budget deficits and the erosion of civil liberties as factors in the GOP's demise. Given the mountain of evidence regarding the party's pervasive failure, it's easy to see this "corruption caused it" viewpoint's attractiveness - it allows each official to relinquish individual responsibility and removes the need to take strong action on a failed war. Therein lies the real danger of this revisionist theory taking hold.

Novak doesn't tell us whether or not the Republican CongressCritters are receptive to this WH revisionism. I would argue the Republican Party's steadfast opposition to establishing any withdrawal timetable means this "corruption caused the 2006 loss" frame may have already seeped into the GOP worldview.

Tales from the Bordello - Or the Southern DisComfort Trifecta

News that GOP Sen. David Vitter's phone number appears in the little black book of DC Madam Palfrey has ignited a mini-firestorm in political circles, exposed the hypocrisy of the "family values" party and awakened memories of disgraced ex-Rep Mark Foley's personal picadillos.

Bob Novak writes in his "insider email" about the ramifications of this latest round of bad news for the GOP - and how the fallout hurts GOP Gov. candidate (and Vitter associate Bobby Jindal) and Rudy Giuliani (boy, can this guy pick his friends) while helping Mary Landrieu in her 2008 re-election effort.

Vitter: The admission by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that before being elected to the Senate he was at some point a client of an infamous Washington escort service may appear to have little political significance for now. The senator does not face re-election until 2010, and his wife was apparently made aware of the situation long ago.

However, the matter will not rest there by any means. First of all, the accused madam involved -- Deborah Jeane Palfrey -- is going to trial and has announced she will subpoena Vitter. Her defense is that her service was not a prostitution ring, so the nature of Vitter's testimony, under oath, would be to show exactly what he did while using the "escort service" and how many times he did it. Vitter could avoid going into such lurid detail by taking the 5th Amendment (after all, solicitation is a crime), but that would also look very bad for him.

Second, this is not the first time Vitter's morals have been called into question. When he ran for Senate in 2004, his enemies brought up old accusations (from when he first ran for Congress) that he had had a year-long affair with a prostitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Beyond that, tales about Vitter's behavior abound in Louisiana. Even if every single one is false, this revelation suddenly gives them new currency. In the future, Democrats will send mailings at the right times and exploit his weakness.

Unlike the embattled Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), Vitter is a Republican. His base will be much harder to mollify when it comes to charges of wrongdoing. True, Jefferson is actually accused of malfeasance in office (bribery), but Republicans are always held to a higher standard by their own voters, who tend to place special value on family issues.

As Louisiana's only statewide-elected Republican, Vitter is currently the don of GOP politics there. This scandal not only devalues his political currency, but it also embarrasses other Republicans. Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), a Vitter protégé, is far and away favored to win the governor's race later this year. But now he is saddled with Vitter. Jindal has already called for Jefferson to step down. Will he call for Vitter to do the same?

Democrats will have lots of fun with this. They may not be able to win the governor's race, but they could make it more competitive by using Vitter to embarrass Jindal. Vitter cannot step down right now even if he wants to, because he would be replaced by a Democrat. If he wants he leave, he has to wait until Jindal becomes governor.

Vitter is also a supporter of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) for President. After losing his Iowa chairman to the Bush Administration and his South Carolina chairman to cocaine charges, Giuliani is lightly burned once again by a key supporter.

CA-41 - Rumors of an Open Seat in the Desert

Cross-posted at Daily Kos and An Enduring Democratic Majority

LEWIS TO RETIRE - Novak; LEWIS AIDES SAY NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE

Let's Convince the Congressman It's Time to Go

Last week, conservative columnist Robert Novak reported that sixteen-term Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis is likely to retire at the end of the current term. In recent years, Lewis has been no stranger to controversy and has been one of the most ethically-challenged members of the GOP caucus. What is it with GOP members of the House Appropriations Committee (Lewis is currently the ranking member)? It seems you can't let them too close to the taxpayers' money, as they apparently can't control themselves. Before you know it, they're pigging out on pork. For a thorough and very lengthy listing of Lewis' questionable ethics, CREW has gathered this information (pdf).

In an April strategy memo, DCCC Chair Chris van Hollen (D-MD) listed Lewis as one of three CA GOP incumbents the committee would be targeting in the 2008 cycle. The DCCC might want to add newly-appointed Appropriations Committee member Ken Calvert (CA-44) to their list of California targets.

Staff and advisers to the San Bernadino Congressman denied the veracity of Novak's reporting- saying Lewis had not made any decisions regarding his future.

This is a GOP-leaning district, to be sure (Cook PVI = R+9) and will be a tough challenge, but CQ Politics believes the ethical questions bring this seat into play, and presents a "Pombo-like" opportunity for a Democratic steal. Currently, there is one declared candidate, lawyer Tim Prince. CQ's analysis of Prince (and Democratic Party) chances in 2008 concludes with:

"Prince described the district as “a bit of a challenge under ordinary circumstances,” but argues that these circumstances are not ordinary. “The news of Mr. Lewis’ ethical quandaries has caused Democrats to become quite serious about the seat,” Prince said.

-- snip --

But Prince or any other Democrat would have to really wow campaign donors to be able to compete financially with Lewis, whose fundraising clout is abetted by his senior position on Appropriations. Lewis, according to his most recent FEC report, began April with $937,000 on hand — after spending nearly $2 million during the 2005-06 campaign cycle, $520,000 of that total in donations aimed at assisting other Republican candidates, according to CQ’s Political MoneyLine"

Let's continue "draining the swamp" by evicting Lewis from the House. Now is the time to help convince Lewis to leave - by investing in our currently declared candidate (Prince) and making sure we have a strong candidate to run in November 2008.

Donate to the eventual CA-41 nominee at Act Blue.

Race Tracker Wiki: CA-41

Cross-posted at Enduring Democratic Majority