Who doesn't remember that ol' Little Rascal bit when the cement fell into the milk for the Rascals' mush, but yet they still had to eat it.
Well, the same thing is happening to Democrats right now. The Republicans, right wing talk radio and Fox News are trying to re-frame the Abramoff matter. And if Democrats aren't careful, they will end up eating the mush, cement and all...
The basic re-frame is: taking any money that had anything to do with Abramoff, even
as little as being merely a client of Abramoff is the same as taking money from Abramoff. This is the concept of
'Abramoff-tainted' money. And if Democrats accept this frame, and give back money from Indian tribes, the whole Abramoff issue gets muddy, and it starts to become a "bi-partisan" scandal. For most Americans, it then just becomes another reason they hate an 'abstract Congress' in a conceptual Washington, rather than hating the real GOP.
So my message to Democrats is: Don't drink the milk, its spoiled.
Some Democrats like Harry Reid aren't drinking the milk. He refuses to let the issue get foggy. No Democrats took money from Abramoff. Howard Dean isn't either. Again, he states clearly no Democrats took money from this Republican lobbyist. When he was questioned about Indian tribes he fired back "Are you calling Indian tribes agents of Abramoff?" Way to go.
But Senators Tom Carper and Byron Dorgan are drinking the milk, cement and all. They are giving back money from Abramoff clients. Their justification is that they want to eliminate the appearance of any wrong doing. It will most certainly not. By returning money, wrong doing is being admitted where no wrong doing was done. It will only cloud the American voter's opinion of what went on. Not only are these Senators buying the Republican frame of the issue, but one could raise questions about their loyalty to Indian tribes. and whether they are trampling on their free speech.
Part of the reason the Democratic party is in the minority is a failure to grasp the 'debate before the debate' - the framing process. Not just fancy soundbites like 'death tax' or 'plan for victory' but by not getting what their actions reveal about how voters view terms of the debate. Refusing to give back money and insisting on the correct terms for the debate before engaging in it, as Reid and Dean have done, is the far better way to the '06 victories we all want.
Plus all that cement is really hard on your teeth.