Corruption issue besets House Democrats, again

From csmonitor.com:

The indictment comes at a tough time for Democrats. Public assessment of their performance since taking charge of Capitol Hill in January has been worsening, polls show. On Democrats' other big election issue – the war in Iraq – they disappointed antiwar activists last month by approving President Bush's war-funding request for this fiscal year.

'The Jefferson case was much less important to Democrats when they were in the minority,' says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Princeton University in New Jersey. 'Coming after a watered-down ethics bill, the story is about failing to reform a system they promised to change.'

'For those frustrated on Iraq as well, it becomes part of an ongoing story on whether the Democrats can follow through on what they promised.