How Low Can They Go?

I had a brief, but nonetheless interesting dinner conversation this evening. A couple of friends and I were reflecting on the travails of Rod Blagojevich, who amazingly is still sitting in the governor's office in Illinois, wielding authority, when I wondered aloud how in the heck he was able to remain in power in the aftermath of being caught on tape crudely discussing how to personally profit from carrying out his duties. Then it kind of hit me: Blagojevich is not alone, as there have been scores of congressman and others who, despite being caught in scandals or doing bad behavior, not only remained in office, but actually ran again anyway. The list is long, and crosses party lines. I am sure I will miss many people, but I have to go to sleep sometime.

* Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA, 04). He fell under an ethical cloud as part of a criminal investigation, and ran again anyway in 2006, winning 49-46 in a very Republican district. Following an FBI raid, he announced he would not run again in 2008, but stayed in Congress until the end of his term.

* Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). After his name fell into a broad federal investigation, his son's office was raided by the feds, and then his own house was raided, he plowed ahead with plans to run for re-election. Oh, and then he was indicted by a federal grand jury. But he kept running, and did not resign from the Senate. In the end, he lost by less than one percent last month, ending a 40-year Senate career.

* Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY, 13). This might be the most comic one of all. Fossella was stopped for DUI in Virginia, and soon thereafter it was exposed that he was going to see his girlfriend and the mother of his daughter. This mattered since Vito touted himself as a "family values" politician who had a loving family back home in Staten Island. While Fossella ultimately decided not to run again (though, he actually considered seriously running again!), stopping a promising career, he stayed in office, and kept showing up every day.

* Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA, 02). Stayed in Congress after the FBI found tens of thousands of dollars in cash in his freezer. He did not even give up a plum committee assignment (it was stripped by Democratic leadership), and was re-elected in 2006. After his own office was raided and he was indicted for corruption, he remained in office. Shockingly, he was turned out of office a few weeks ago, a huge relief to Democrats.

* Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL, 24). He became part of the broad Abramoff scandal and investigation, and went on an infamous golf trip to Scotland with the disgraced lobbyist. The funniest part is that he did not really acknowledge his ties to Abramoff until this year when he faced a tough campaign, even cutting an ad issuing a baloney apology. He was crushed.

* Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH, 18). Ney remained in Congress following his indictment, and did not actually resign until he was convicted.

* Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA, 50). See Ney. Cunningham disgraced his office and his institution, but remained resolutely in office until he was convicted of breath-taking corruption.

* Rep. Don Young (R-AK, AL). Young has been the subject of a federal probe for over a year, spending over $1 million of his campaign funds on his defense lawyers. Like Stevens, Young plowed ahead with his campaign this year, narrowly winning his primary and general election. He remains in office, unbowed.

I realize I could go on and on. My whole point is simply that it seems like there is no scandal too great to shame a congressman into resigning. I know that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but the sheer audacity of Members today should stun even hardened cynics. Really, we have reached a point in our political culture where any crime short of the Earl Long/Edwin Edwards test -- being found in bed with a dead girl or live boy -- will not force a politician into immediately giving up power (which kind of explains who Mark Foley and Eliot Spitzer promptly resigned when their shame was revealed to the world).

Kind of amazing when you think about it. There is no lowest point for shameless politicians who will keep showing up for work. How Vito Fossella came in every day over the last six months, and looked his staff and constituents in the eye each morning is beyond me. Blago must be made of the same "right stuff".

And guess what? Vito is already plotting a comeback. You can't make this stuff up.