Democrats to Make “Ethics” Key to 2006 Campaign

James Joyner | Thursday, March 17, 2005

Rahm Emanuel, who heads the committee that coordinates the Democrats’ bid to retake the House of Representatives, has taken a page out of Newt Gingrich’s playbook.

Rahm plots ‘06 attack on ethics (The Hill)

Democratic House leaders are casting about for squeaky-clean congressional candidates — even if they’re long shots — to challenge prominent GOP incumbents who have been tainted by news reports of their allegedly unseemly connection to lobbyists. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) strategy, still in development, aims to make ethical charges the touchstone of those campaigns and would use several high-profile local races to create a national image of corruption in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Several Democratic lawmakers and aides said that Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) will be the first target of this new strategy.

Explicitly borrowing from the anti-corruption planks in Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” and hoping to replicate the 1994 watershed victory that followed, the new plan suggests that Democratic leaders believe they need to weave themes of abuse of power into any successful campaign to recapture the House.

DCCC Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said questions about strategy and targeting Ney are premature, but several lawmakers and aides confirmed that Democrats are actively looking for candidates to run good-government campaigns against Ney and possibly House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). “There’s no doubt that we’ll be going after Ney on ethics,” a knowledgeable lawmaker said. “There will be other races like Ney’s as well. It’s fair to say that ethics is going to be a national issue in this campaign.” Another lawmaker said, “Ney gets higher on our list every day.”

This was indeed a key part of the Gingrich strategy that worked so brilliantly in 1994. Of course, Gingrich and the GOP also put forth a bold, alternative plan for running the country. The Democrats might consider doing that, too.

Typo corrected.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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Tags | Campaign 2006, Congress, James Joyner

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Gringrich's strategy was in 1994, not 2004

Posted by Doug | March 17, 2005 | 01:21 pm | Permalink

 

Yea, and the ethical standards are so much higher now that the Republicans have been running things.

Posted by Hal | March 17, 2005 | 06:14 pm | Permalink

 

That will make it SOOOOO much easier for Hillary 2 years later.

Posted by Paul | March 18, 2005 | 08:53 am | Permalink

 

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