I've been saying for a long time (well, long in blog years) that the "culture of corruption" meme was a two-edged sword that was very dangerous for the Democrats to try to use as an election tool. And there have been plenty of indication that it simply wasn't a really good idea to try it, since it was just as likely to cut the people wielding it as the intended target. The weekend raid of Jefferson's office pretty well showed just how dangerous it was.
Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Mr. Jefferson's situation was that of an individual who had yet to be charged formally. The Democratic case against Republicans, he suggested, went to a pattern of trading influence for personal gain within an incestuous world of revolving-door staff members, lobbyists and campaign fund-raisers that Republicans helped establish.
"They are different scales," Mr. Emanuel said. "One is a party outlook and operation; the other is an individual's action. They have institutional corruption."
Even before the case against Mr. Jefferson became public, Republicans were pointing to ethical questions about the activities of another Democrat, Representative Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, who is under F.B.I. scrutiny for his personal finances and his efforts to steer millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations that he helped control.
On Monday, Democratic leaders were considering steps to isolate Mr. Jefferson, including the possibility of removing him from his seat on the Ways and Means Committee. Ms. Pelosi had already endorsed the idea of an ethics inquiry against Mr. Jefferson, and one was initiated last week.
I'm sure Representative Emanuel is at least somewhat skilled at politics, and has good staff and all that. He's also got a tin ear of biblical proportions. The way he's trying to nuance and hairsplit this will not only not work, but it will convince average people that the whole lot of them are crooks. Saying, in effect, they're worse than we are is not exactly what I would call a good idea. It is, to the average person, a distinction without a difference.
Frankly, the Democrats will hurt themselves if they try to keep using this. This issue is rapidly turning from just a two-edged sword into something more closely resembling a running chainsaw. Best not to try juggling it.
UPDATE: Dr. Steven Taylor calls it much the same way.
