Conrad Burns Latest to Feel The 'Abramoff Effect'

[maddezmom]

Path of the Storm
Think of it as the Abramoff Effect. The disgraced lobbyist's troubles influenced Tom DeLay's exit. Who's next?
By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey
Newsweek
April 17, 2006 issue - Conrad burns was doing his best to win over the crowd, but he just wasn't feeling the love. The Republican senator was supposed to be home in Montana last Friday night, where he was to be the featured guest at a GOP fund-raiser. Instead, he was stuck in an airport on his way back from Washington, where the Senate had tried, and failed, to pass an immigration bill. So Burns awkwardly attempted to attend the dinner by cell phone. Over the buzz of the long-distance connection, amplified through a microphone, the three-term senator declared that he had never felt so much energy. "This is going to be a ground war," he said. "But this campaign isn't about me. It's about you and how much you're willing to work on the ground to win in November!" The audience, mostly elderly Republicans, applauded politely, then went back to their buffet plates.

Of course, the campaign is all about Burns—and his tight relationship with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the one-man political wrecking ball who helped bring down House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and who may destroy the careers of other prominent Republicans. Last week DeLay, besieged by corruption investigations in Washington and Texas, announced he was resigning from Congress. He said he didn't want his troubles to provide ammunition for Democrats, whose midterm campaign strategy is to use the Abramoff scandal to portray all Republicans as corrupt money-grubbers. DeLay had hoped to tough it out, but then two of his closest former aides agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in the Abramoff probe. DeLay said his decision to quit was unrelated; still, he knew he was finished.

Now other Republicans who once happily accepted the lobbyist's cash and gifts are suffering from the same Abramoff Effect. Ohio Rep. Robert Ney is under investigation for allegedly doing Abramoff favors in return for free trips, gifts and campaign contributions, including an August 2002 trip to the St. Andrews golf course in Scotland. Ney has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he was "duped" by Abramoff and misled about who paid for the trip. The congressman has vowed to stay in the race, "even if I'm indicted." That's a campaign slogan the GOP could live without.

more:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12227763/site/newsweek/

[WhiteTara]

1. I'm waiting for it to swallow Doolittle and

Pombo. Both disgusting pigs at the trough from California. Pombo charged us $5,000 to take a vacation in an RV to all the national parks...which he is now putting up for sale.