Ethics take back seat to economy

Democrats have gotten a taste of the ethics woes that have battered the Republican Party for the past three years, but any public outrage has taken a backseat to pocketbook issues and will likely only affect individual races.

This year, ethics scandals have generated fewer national headlines as the housing crisis and economy have rattled voters. The hard-fought presidential race also has overshadowed the dynamics in congressional campaigns.

{mosads}“When people’s pocketbooks really start to hurt, every other issue fades into the background,” said Meredith McGehee, an ethics expert and policy director of the Campaign Legal Center. “But higher gasoline and food prices? That’s an everyday reality for most Americans and it gets their attention.”

Ethics issues still matter during hard economic times, McGehee argues, mainly because voters want to believe that Congress can help solve their problems. Seeing evidence of corruption or abuse of power spurs cynicism and destroys faith that lawmakers are competent enough to solve difficult problems.

“You can see that in Congress’s low approval rating,” she said. “At this moment [evidence of Democrats’ misdeeds] helps Republicans because it shows that the GOP is not the only party with problems. But the second edge of that sword is an increase in public cynicism and a lack of faith that Washington can deliver.”

Last week House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) angry press conference was music to Republicans’ ears. After winning the majority, Democrats had boldly promised to “drain the swamp” of corruption in Congress, but now one of their own was facing serious abuse-of-power questions. Rangel’s troubles were just the shot in the arm Republicans needed.

“So many of their guys for the last 10 years thought these special deals were OK, and now that they’re in the majority they’re finding out what it’s like to be scrutinized,” remarked one senior GOP aide.

In his presser, Rangel attacked The Washington Post for its report on his troubles. He also denied breaking any ethics rules when he sent fundraising letters for a New York City college center bearing his name to prominent executives. He was so confident that he had done nothing wrong, he said, he would file an ethics complaint against himself, a development Republicans welcome.

The open combat with the press followed another story in The New York Times calling into question Rangel’s four rent-controlled apartments (one of which he used as an office) in the Harlem-based Lenox Terrace complex. Just weeks before that, Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) were facing heat for receiving special reduced rates on their mortgages from Countrywide Home Loans, which is under FBI investigation for its role in the mortgage meltdown crisis.

Shortly after Rangel’s press conference, House GOP leadership aides circulated “The Swamp List,” chronicling 58 stories about alleged Democratic ethical misdeeds. The highlights included stories about Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) penchant for channeling earmarks to campaign donors, Rep. Laura Richardson’s (D-Calif.) multiple defaults on home loans, and Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) uphill legal battle against 16 counts of corruption, as well as Rep. Alan Mollohan’s (D-W.Va.) earmarks near land he owned.

“The questions surrounding Mr. Rangel’s apparent attempts to raise money to supplement a taxpayer-funded monument-to-me is only the latest and high[est]-profile in a series of ethics issues that has plagued this new majority,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.).

Democrats brush aside the criticism, arguing that there’s plenty of evidence that Republicans still haven’t learned their ethics lessons from the 2006 election and are trying to deflect attention from their own ethics stories and uphill electoral battle this fall.

“Republicans are desperate and grasping at straws,” said Doug Thornell, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Trying to lift part of the Democrats’ message from 2006 is a nice compliment, but it shows Republicans are disconnected from reality and without a game plan for 2008.”

In the last two years, there’s been a steady drip of stories of GOP ethical lapses, Thornell said.

Just two months ago, Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) was arrested for driving while intoxicated and later admitted to fathering a child from an extramarital affair. That followed the embarrassing bathroom saga of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), who was forced to announce his retirement, and Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) name showing up on the D.C. Madam’s call list.

Fallout from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal is still taking its toll on the GOP in Reps. Tom Feeney’s (R-Fla.) and Don Young’s (R-Alaska) races, as well as in the campaign of former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.), who is running for Senate. An FBI investigation into Young’s and Sen. Ted Stevens’s (R-Alaska) ties to an oil company also has both congressional veterans running scared.

Unlike Republicans, Democrats who have found themselves under an ethics cloud are mainly longtime powerhouses from safe seats, such as Rangel, Murtha and Mollohan. Jefferson even survived reelection amid a series of stories about the FBI investigation into the bribery allegations against him. He faces six challengers in the Sept. 6 Democratic primary and may have a big enough base of supporters to survive a crowded fight.