Rick Renzi was indicted yesterday by the Feds.

The corruption that became a clarion call for the Democrats in 2006 should have been expunged by now, right?  Are there more?

The only good news in all of this is that another corrupt official is gone and whoever might be left has to be looking for the Feds at their door soon.

This has been a shameful and disturbing episode. 

(Post-post update:  I use the word expunge in the sense of "destroy" or "wipe out", not in the sense of "erase".  I doubt anyone really cares but me, but I wanted to be clear).

sharp

In 2004 it was CBS running a fake story and then standing by it with all their might while everyone else, including their liberal allies, were ashamed for them.

Not to be outdone, the NYTimes has decided to prove they've given up any shred of integrity.  Perhaps they're jealous of all the attention Dan Rather got on the way out the door.  Or maybe they've forgotten how foolish CBS News looked to the world.

Well, for whatever reason, they've sold out to the left very, very early.  Usually that kind of false report is saved for the Thursday before the election or just around one of the conventions.  Or at least, like CBS, for a few weeks prior to the election.

Bad timing?  Bad journalism.  Bad human beings?

It's hard to tell.  And getting harder to tell them apart.

sharp

According to Rasmussen, confidence that Americans are winning the war on terror hit the highest point in the Bush administration in the latest poll.

The divide between Republicans and Democrats remained high, but Independents will decide this election and that number is shifting to the right on Iraq.  Obama and Clinton are scoring big with the left on pulling all the troops out day one, but that might not play with Independents as things improve and the picture of snatching failure from American's military and giving a victory to the terrorists takes hold.

Politics is never dull.

sharp

While the Presidential race is thrilling and will dominate the media all the way through the conventions, the story that may be unfolding behind the scenes is truly shocking. 

Just five months ago the American people preferred the Democratic party to the Republican party to the tune of 50% to 32%.   Not only was the Presidential race only happening in the Democratic primary, it was looking like a lock for huge gains in the House and Senate for Democrats.

But the last two months saw a tremendous narrowing of the gap.  Once as high as 18 points, it has now narrowed to only 4.  According to Rasmussen, if the election were held today 44% of voters would choose the Democrats and 40% the Republicans.

It may only be a statistical blip.  But the underlying numbers, if this is truly a trend, provide some great encouragement for Republicans (I am aware of how absurd this sounds).

The Democrats have a 13 point advantage with women while the Republicans have a 6 point advantage with men.  So, why would that be encouraging?  Because the Republicans have the ability to argue that they will keep the country secure while the Democrats will encourage terrorism by a unilateral withdrawal from Iraq (and maybe Afghanistan).

That's why women voted for Republicans before.  It's much more telling to me that men are still leaning Republican. 

All signs point to a huge Democratic victory in 2008.  Except this trend.  We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. 

Politics is never dull.

sharp

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The Sandbox

sharp