obama's ethical dilemma

Politico has an interesting piece up on the political test that the Blagojevich affair now poses to the president-elect. The scale of the alleged offences, their lurid nature, and the way they're bound up with Obama's own political relationships (although no aspersions are being cast on him or his team) means that he can't avoid confronting this issue. Add to that list his 2008 campaign platform. He promised to bring 'change' to Washington, and that included its ethics. Will he now treat the Blago affair as an opportunity for a full-frontal attack on the shady ethics of much political business on Capitol Hill?

I suspect not. I'm sure he'll deal with it in a speech or two but I doubt he wants to expend much political capital on ethics reform at this stage, not when there is so much else on his plate. To do so would be to risk antagonising many in Congress whose support he needs if he's to get an ambitious legislative program through.

Besides, the truth is, few voters care that much about problems of Washington process. They grumble about corruption and it definitely contributes to their cynicism about politicians, which means it has long-term corrosive effects. But it doesn't seem to affect their voting choices, which is why everyone was surprised that William J. Jefferson just got booted out, even though he was famous for keeping a $90,000 of bribes in his freezer (and he only just lost). So ethics reform is a bit like a damp problem in your flat. You know you've got to deal with it as some stage...

Comments

[Tom Grey]

While you're mostly correct, this is a real anti-Dem stick that the Reps will certainly be trying to use to beat up on the hypocritical Dems.

Remember, the Dems won in 2006, 2 years ago, on a platform of reform and anti-corruption. With some media bias help (all corrupt Reps are prominently identified as such, many Dems, like Spizer, are written about with no party identification).

The Dems partly won on their 'moral superiority' -- and this obvious corruption will make it easier for anti-Bush conservative/ independent Obama voters to switch back to Reps.