Black Box Report

...has become a loud hum.

Scott Reed, a Republican strategist, was at a dinner in Philadelphia on Monday night when his cellphone and Internet pager began beeping like crazy. Only later did he learn why. His party was buzzing with news of a sex scandal involving a Republican United States senator — again.
......
“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed, sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”

Well, at least we agree on something...

You can almost hear Republican politicians, donors and strategists muttering to themselves over that extra drink, "It wasn't supposed to be like this..."

The irony is, this was supposed to be a year of recovery for the GOP. Last year was a humiliating fiasco, with Abramoff, Cunningham, Ney, Foley, Harris, DeLay, Wedlon, and Burns (among others). The voters awarded Dems both chambers, Republicans learned a valuable lesson, and 2007 would help the GOP take a long look in the mirror and get back on track.

Uh-huh. Wrong track. Poor Mel Martinez.

The 2006 mid-terms were supposed to be as bad as it got for the GOP. The "Culture of Corruption" hung 'round their necks, they took their lumps, lost both houses and had nowhere to go but up, or so it seemed. But with multiple sex scandals, ethics committee investigations, FBI investigations, shady land deals, Abramoff links, oil company ties...the hits just keep on coming.

So what's the tally this year so far? Well, there is, of course, 1) Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) and 2) Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) with their sex scandals (the attempted restroom tryst and numerous successful hotel room trysts, respectively).

But then there's the much greater toll of just plain ol' corruption. 3) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and 4) Rep. Don Young (R-AK) are under investigation for their ties to the oil company Veco (though that's just the tip of the iceberg for Young). 5) Reps. Tom Feeney (R-FL) and 6) John Doolittle (R-CA) have found themselves the focus of a reinvigorated Abramoff investigation (though Abramoff is in prison, he's still busily cooperating). 7) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) had his house raided. 8) The FBI is investigating Rep. Gary Miller's (R-CA) land deals.

And then there's 9) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) whose land deal with a businessman and campaign contributor became such a scandal that she finally just sold back the plot of land.

(Update: Thanks to a TPM Reader for pointing out that I omitted 12) Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and 13) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) in my original round-up. Both are facing ethics committee investigations for their calls last October to former U.S. attorney David Iglesias about his office's investigation of a state Democrat.)
..........
And there are a couple holdovers from 2006, of course; scandal figures who've stuck around and managed to keep a relatively low profile. 10) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is still apparently under federal investigation. And 11) Rep. Ken Calvert's (R-CA) land deals are still winning scrutiny.

And let's not forget Rep. Bob "$20" Allen (R-FL Restroom).

Of course, the immediate rejoinder you get from conservatives when you start reading them the litany of GOP scandals is "But what about William Jefferson?!?!? Huh? What about him?" I admit, the first time someone used this clever tactic on me I was at a complete loss. "My god," I thought, "my theory of serial Republican corruption is destroyed! Lo! And I am hoisted on my own petard!" Then another nanosecond passed and I pointed out the bloody obvious - one congressman does not a "Democratic Culture of Corruption" make.

But just for the record, let's spell it out for those who insist on comparing apples to Fabergé Eggs. We'll stick to just the Senate and the House for this comparison of Republican Vs Democratic scandals (we could include state & local politicians and national party apparatchiks, but you don't wanna go there).

So first, the Republicans:

2006

Ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) (Abramoff lobbying scandal - Retired)
Ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) (Bribery / lobbying scandal- Convicted)
Ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) (Abramoff lobbying scandal - Convicted)
Ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) (Sex scandal - Retired)
Ex-Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) (Cunningham lobbying scandal – Defeated in re-election bid)
Ex-Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) (Lobbying scandal – Defeated in re-election bid)
Ex-Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) (Abramoff lobbying scandal – Defeated in re-election bid)

2007

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) (Ethics investigation connected to the removal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney Iglesias)
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) (Ethics investigation connected to the removal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney Iglesias)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) (Cunningham lobbying scandal)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) (Abramoff lobbying scandal)
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) (Abramoff lobbying scandal)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) (Crooked land deal)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) (Crooked land deal)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) (Payoffs from Veco Oil Co.)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) (Payoffs from Veco Oil Co.; numerous other scandals)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (Crooked land deal)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) (More Crooked land deals)
Rep. Bob Allen (R-FL) (Sex scandal)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) (Sex scandal)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) (Sex scandal)

And now...The Democrats:

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) (Bribery, Fraud)

Shall we count again?

21-1

I hope that was enlightening.

But it's not just the houses of Congress that the steady drip, drip, drip of Republican scandals is threatening, but the big enchilada as well:

Stolberg goes on to list the GOP operatives for Giuliani (Thomas Ravenel, state treasurer of South Carolina, cocaine), McCain (Bob Allen, state representative in Florida, soliciting sex in a public restroom - what, you think Craig was first?) and Romney (Larry Craig, Idaho, ditto) who have had to quit in disgrace.

The context here is a year and a race where the GOP is hardly excited about their prospects.

Hardly excited? Try despondently morose, or clinically depressed. This is what happens when one party constantly lays claim to the moral high ground ("Idaho-lier than thou"), legislating that morality it pays lip service to while many of its members stand hip-deep in the muck. The GOP can't win without the evangelical right - especially after Rove went all in on that particular gambit - and it's an understatement to say Republicans have been disappointing them as of late:

Dennis Hastert's former press secretary, John Feehery...says that "(if) we had a coach, the coach would take us in the locker room and scream at us."...

John, you're wrong. If you had a team performing this badly, the coach would throw out the team and get players who weren't so obviously unfit to wear the jersey.

Well, look at it this way...It can’t get any worse for the GOP.

Can it?