Swampland - TIME.com

About That Corruption Problem

Karl Rove and his like-believers have analyzed the 2006 elections and told just about anyone who will listen that the reason Republicans were wiped out had mostly to do with corruption and very little to do with Iraq (and therefore, conveniently, little to do with President Bush). Now, I strongly believe that grim sentiment about Iraq, and by extension unhappiness with Bush, permeated the electorate and contributed mightily to Democratic victories, even though exit polls showed corruption to be the single "issue" most cited by voters. Iraq created a pall over everything Republican. And still does.

But let's put aside the question of whether Rove's analysis is true or false. Let's say, moreover, that corruption was the most important factor contributing to GOP losses in 2006. That would be reassuring to Republicans if they could: a) assume that the corruption scandals that hurt them last year -- Abramoff, Foley, Cunningham, DeLay -- will be old news by 2008; and b) no new scandals emerge to sustain the image of a party mired in corruption. The jury is out on assumption "a". As for "b", the incident at Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' home yesterday -- and the involvement of Rep. Don Young -- might be a problem.


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About Swampland

Ana Marie Cox

Ana Marie Cox is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more

Joe Klein

Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read more

Karen Tumulty

Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read more

Jay Carney

Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered both the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses, as well as Congress. Before coming to Washington, he spent three years reporting from TIME's Moscow bureau. In his next life, he would like to write for Sports Illustrated. Read more

Jay Newton-Small

Jay Newton-Small Jay Newton-Small covers politics for TIME. She has covered the Bush 43 White House and also Congress from the DeLay era to the present. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read more

Michael Scherer

Michael Scherer is a correspondent in TIME's Washington bureau covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked national assignments for Mother Jones magazine and Salon.com. Read more

Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy is a political consultant who helped elect more than a dozen GOP Senators and Governors including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney. In 2000, Murphy was a senior strategist for John McCain's presidential campaign. Read more

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