Democrat’s Dilemma

What in the world is the party going to do about William Jefferson? Even the Washington Post is puzzled by all this, it seems. Confounding all the predictions, Jefferson won reelection despite all that cold, hard - in fact frozen - cash he kept in his freezer. Now the party that swore it was going to run a clean Congress is in a real bind.

Voters gave the Louisiana Democrat an emphatic reelection victory over state Rep. Karen Carter, even though his campaign had been weighted with revelations that federal authorities had videotaped him taking $100,000 in alleged bribe money, and that $90,000 of it had been found inside a freezer in his apartment in the District. The investigation led House colleagues to dump him from a key committee, donors abandoned him and the state Democratic Party switched its allegiance to his opponent.

But before cheering supporters at a hotel room on election night, Jefferson called his win "a great moment" and said, "I thank almighty God for making it possible."

He declined to discuss the probe.

Divinely inspired or not, his victory now poses a quandary for Democrats, some of whom have shunned him politically, and possibly also for the city. Leaders here seek to project an image of civic probity as they lobby for more federal money for recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

"This has to be seen as troubling," said Brian Brox, a political science professor at Tulane University. "I don't think his victory does any good for New Orleans as it presses its claims on the national government."

This is going to be a major headache for Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the party. Since two of Jefferson's associates have already been convicted, it is hard to see how he will avoid being indicted. As I have said before, people will look at this and see that, despite all the promises, business will go on in the same old way with the Democrats in charge. That will hurt them in the long run.