From the Associated Press:
Highly visible ethics trials for two prominent Democrats will almost certainly be put off until after the November election, denying Republicans a televised spectacle that could influence voters near the end of campaigns dominated by economic issues.
The House ethics committee failed this past week to set a trial date for either Reps. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) of New York or Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) of California.
Lawmakers plan to recess by Sept. 30 or soon afterward–not enough time to complete a trial. The House ethics committee is unlikely to start proceedings and then interrupt them. The committee has not announced its intentions.
Neither Rangel nor Waters had an immediate comment on the delay.
Rangel, who has tried to negotiate a settlement, has said previously he wanted the case resolved before the election.
Republicans are making a strong bid to regain a House majority. Their House campaign committee is preparing advertisements that will focus on Democrats who received campaign money from Rangel or Waters, and demand that the money be returned. The campaign organization also has sent news releases to 35 House districts on the same issue.
Polling, however, finds the economy and jobs are the dominant campaign issues. News releases and attack ads by the National Republican Campaign Committee won’t substitute for a rare televised ethics trial–where House ethics investigators act as prosecutors trying to prove misconduct.
Democratic campaign strategists are predicting that the ethics issue will have little impact on their candidates’ individual races. Republicans have juxtaposed Rangel’s and Waters’ troubles with Democratic leaders’ winning campaign strategy four years ago, when they accused the GOP of fostering a “culture of corruption.”
Read the whole thing here. Well, that was then, this is now.
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