Or maybe I’m the one who’s unclear.
Given the problems the Bush Administration has had recently from betting on the wrong horse, one would think that today’s indictment of former House majority leader Tom DeLay would warrant only a lukewarm reaction from the White House.
Instead, , according to AP as reported on CNN, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the president still considers DeLay a friend and effective leader in Congress.
“Congressman DeLay is a good ally, a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people,” McClellan said. “I think the president’s view is that we need to let the legal process work.”
In lieu of calling DeLay a “good ally” (with friends like that…), I might have babbled something about his 10 previously unblemished terms in office and offered a platitude about letting the legal process work without partisan rancor.
Not to excuse Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California for her over-the-top statement that “Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption”. That is certainly true of SOME Republicans, and maybe even most of the rogues in Washington, D.C., but certainly not all.
Lacking specifics, that kind of general assertion only serves to irritate moderates and Independents who may have supported decent Republican candidates in the past – exactly the kind of voters that the Democrats want to attract.