Only Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres) knows whether he has been exposed to legal peril through his involvement with Chandra Levy. But whatever the facts may be, it is certain that he has strayed into dangerous political and moral terrain. After giving Condit cover during the opening gambits of Levy’s disappearance, Democrats have begun to desert him. California Sen. Barbara Boxer was one of the first to leave the reservation, and now Rep. Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas) and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) are inching away. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, recently said, “[Condit’s] political career, as a practical matter, I assume, is gone,” while California Sen. Dianne Feinstein proclaimed July 31 that, “He lied to me, and that’s something I just can’t forgive.”

Yet, Condit’s biggest (non-legal) problem isn’t that his colleagues have turned away from him–they’re just insulating themselves and won’t attack him any more than is necessary for political survival. His real problem is that liberal members of the media have started to turn on him, too.