Of Scandal and the Democrats

I’ve blogged a couple of times over the last six months about the dangers of single-party rule to the party in power.

You know the saying about absolute power corrupting absolutely…

Republicans leaped into that trap with both feet, watching as an entire generation of leaders (from Jack Abramoff to Ted Stevens) went down in spectacular flames.

Will Democrats do better? Early signs aren’t so promising. Here’s the list of high profile Dems damaged by scandal so far:

1. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojoveich, who allegedly tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat.

2. Former Illinois attorney general Rolland Burris, who allowed himself to be appointed to Obama’s seat by the tainted Blago.

3. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who is withdrawing as a candidate for Commerce Secretary because of a Grand Jury investigation into an alleged pay-to-play scheme.

4. Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Once a rising star with a reasonable shot at the White House, he hooked up with an illegal call-girl service and is now a blogger for an on-line magazine.

5. Rep. William Jefferson, a veteran lawmaker from Louisiana, is awaiting trial on bribery and money-laundering charges. He was ousted by voters in a late election in December, replaced by an unknown Republican attorney.

6. Former Senator John Edwards — a candidate last year for president — who vanished from the national scene after first lying about an extra-marital affair, then confessing during a “Nightline” interview.

The deeply-divided Republicans were in desperate need of a break and naturally they’ve been crowing about these Democratic missteps.

“How fun is this scandal?” wrote Betsy Newmark for Fox News. “As a Republican, I figure it’s about time that we have a nice, juicy Democratic scandal to chew over. This guy Blagojevich is a real prize.”

But Dems are also doing some hand-wringing. Writing for CNN, James Carville predicted more trouble ahead:

The Democratic Party has had a recent run of corruption and sex scandals. Mathematicians say that there are no such things as streaks and that the last event has nothing to do with the next.

The only people who disagree are crapshooters and political operatives. Since I am both, I firmly believe that there are streaks and that political scandals happen in clusters.

With single-party rule about to hit Washington, the Democrats could do one thing to prevent a GOP-style self-destruction.

They could implement really effective ethics and sunshine measures designed to self-police their own ranks.

Give the watchdogs teeth now and rank-and-file members will know to color inside the lines.

Will that happen? Not likely. I’m with Carville on this one. Look for the list of Democratic flame-outs to grow in 2009.