The Seed Of Democrats '06 Argument Are Sown

Only time will show what this investigation by Patrick Fitzgerald will really mean in the long run. There's a sense that it will go farther than indictments that are handed down.

What we cannot see is the possible cumulative effect that political pressure will have on the White House and how they handle it. Crimes have been charged. The White House is stumbling and every reporter is speculating what's next and, more importantly, looking intently at every corner for the next big scoop. This is the combination of a precariously built house of cards ready to fall.

Amidst this frenzy, it's not a surprise that the Democrats are slowly building their 2006 midterm case around this CIA leak scandal. For the Democratic Party it's an excellent chance to nab one of the GOP's most revered platforms: The bearers of national security.

In the past months, it seemed that Democrats could successfully run on the platform that Republicans had squandered their majority and wrecked the country. An unpopular war, rising gas and heating prices and botched assistance to the Gulf Coast would have been a proven trinity of bad news to the Republican majority in Congress.

Now, as news about Cheney's Chief of Staff became known, filtered and processed it seems that national security is definitely up for grabs.

Liberal blogger, Oliver Willis is blunt in his assessment of the Republican party's handling of national security,

If you want ethics in government, don't vote Republican. If you want to trust your government not to leak classified information to journalists for political gain, certainly don'’t vote for Republicans

If national security is just within reach, then the issue of accountability and honesty in the Bush White House is a near certainty to played and won by Democrats.

Former White House hand during the Clinton presidency, Paul Begala, posted a rather biting comeback to the current inhabitants of the White House and their pious attitude when they received the keys to government.

As a matter of morality, the Bushies are already guilty. Guilty of smearing the Wilson family. Guilty of twisting intelligence. Guilty of lying about the role of White House aides in outing Mrs. Wilson. Guilty of sanctimony and hypocrisy and hubris. Most of all, they are guilty of misleading us into this God-awful war.

Yesterday's aggressive move to close the Senate was another weapon to root out the truth. In this case the attack is two-fold. One, it serves notice that the minority party will be vociferous in fighting the nomination of Samuel Alito. And second, it simultaneously hovers the ill-fated war and the indictments of Lewis Libby like a dark cloud over red state America.

Thus far, the Democrats plan to quietly lie in the weeds until the wounded elephant was on one knee has proven to be political genius.