LAST YEAR was a rough one for the GOP and the Bush administration, and from what we’ve seen so far, 2006 promises no fewer obstacles and controversies. One of the biggest–indeed, the centerpiece of Congressional Democrats’ electoral strategy–will be scandal.
Democrats are rejoicing at the turnabout from the Clinton years, just as Republicans rejoiced when President Clinton became the target of many of the very same weapons–independent counsels, sexual harassment charges–deployed with great effect against Republicans and conservatives in the prior two administrations. To younger activists, the time is ripe for high dudgeon. To veterans of the process, the stories are too familiar, and only the names are new. Scandals, after all, are as old as Washington, even older, and to observers of national politics, they tend to settle themselves into familiar patterns.
