One thing that could sink our chances in credibly claiming the mantle of reform is who our Dems in the House pick for Majority Leader. Unfortunately, both choices have perceived skeletons in their closets that could hurt us down the road in terms of the image of our party.
I'm no fan of Steny Hoyer. He's a complete
corporate shill someone who backstabs fellow Dems, and someone who is friends with K-Street. The only reason why he is not like DeLay is because, by being in the minority leader, he doesn't have as easy access to means in which to corrupt himself. Now that the K-Street Project is shutdown, lobbyists will try to parlay their influence with the new House leadership.
Unfortunately, Murtha isn't a good alternative. Despite not doing anything illegal, he was involved in the ABSCAM scandal of 1980 which perception-wise, could hurt us. Just this past September, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) gave him an honorable mention for their most corrupt members of Congress list (most of those name on there should be familiar, including two of the Democrats listed who are under investigation, William Jefferson and Allan Mollohan.)
I don't know if we can get Pelosi to change her mind publically, but perhaps getting her to change her mind behind the scenes in support of a third candidate would make sense. Here are her office numbers for DC and San Francisco:
SF: (415) 556-4862
DC: (202) 225-4965