The National Republican Senate Committee has a strategy to defend against the damage from the scandal centered around the prominent former Republican lobbyist, political operative, and DeLay insider. The strategy: go on the offensive with a PR effort to tie Abramoff and his tainted money to US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), US Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and more. The theory is the damage from the scandal could be somewhat neutralized if both parties are linked to the corruption.
That made me laugh out loud. Somehow, Democrats accepting money and trips from Abramoff and his clients is all a Republican plot to cover up their own corruption. As though Republicans have available to them some sort of mind control devices that forced Democrats to do these things.
Corruption is corruption, and we shouldn't be playing partisan games with this. The Abramoff situation should be thoroughly investigated and all people involved should be held accountable. Just because Abramoff is a Republican doesn't make this a Republican-only scandal.
Byron Dorgan's refusal to step down from the investigation into these dealings is especially egregious in that he is involved (however loosely) yet remains at the head of an investigation into the matter. In our judicial system it is common practice for judges and lawyers to recuse themselves from cases involving people or businesses with which they've had dealings, legal or otherwise. I cannot fathom why Dorgan would feel that he doesn't need to hold himself to this same standard.
I think it would speak volumes about his integrity if Dorgan stepped down and let the investigation run its course without him. He won't, though, because now he's backed himself into something of a corner. He wasn't immediately forthcoming about his acceptance of money from Abramoff clients and his use of Abramoff's sky box for fundraising activities when he joined the investigation and now stepping down would look like an admission of guilt.
Well I say too bad. Stepping down is the proper thing to do at this juncture, regardless of whether or not its a setback for Dorgan politically.