Good for the Gander

The GOP now is rushing to dull some of those pesky double-edged swords they forged back in the days of their minority status:

House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, according to GOP leaders.

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House Republicans adopted the indictment rule in 1993, when they were trying to end four decades of Democratic control of the House, in part by highlighting Democrats' ethical lapses. They said at the time that they held themselves to higher standards than prominent Democrats such as then-Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (Ill.), who eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to prison.

It is tempting to look at this as just another example of Republican arrogance and hypocrisy, then do a little finger pointing, say "shame on you", and add it to the list of Republican abuses we can reference whenever we need a little righteous indignation.

But I think we can frame the issue in a different, more powerful way: This isn't about hypocrisy, it's about corruption. It's about a party so entrenched in the halls of power that it cares for little else except abusing that power to protect itself. It's about a party so drenched in politics that it doesn't take the rule of law seriously anymore. And voters need to be reminded of this at every opportunity.

James Carville said recently that Democrats have a litany of policies they are for, while Republicans have a narrative of how they are going to make your life better. If a narrative is what we need, then citizen empowerment seems like a reasonable plotline to include. It's consistent with our party's past, and it's flexible enough to frame a number of new issues. Fighting against goverment corruption fits into this story nicely, and being able to cast ourselves as the party of honesty and integrity won't hurt either.