IT'S THE STUPID AGENDA, STUPID (via Kevin Whited):

The Dems' integrity act will fail (David Hill, 4/20/05, The Hill)

[T]he softness of the Democrats’ political integrity initiative is not its greatest defect. More damning is that it suffers from a lack of relevance for most voters. Probably no ordinary American voter anywhere in our great nation awoke this morning thinking that his or her family needs congressional lobbying reform. Some voters woke up hoping for a better job. Or praying for peace. But no one was really thinking about political reform.

A recent release of the Harris poll’s long-running examination of public confidence in American institutions explains why so few Americans care much about what the Democrats consider such a sizzling issue. While just 16 percent of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the people in charge of running Congress, that’s about par for the course since Watergate.

The average percentage of Americans expressing a great deal of confidence in congressional leaders from 1974 to 1979 was 14 percent. The 1980s saw the average rise to 18 percent. Then, in the 1990s, it fell again to 12 percent. Since 2000, it has averaged 17 percent. So there is no trend in voter cynicism about Congress.

The truth of the matter — and the Harris data make this point — is that few Americans expect Congress to be especially worthy of exceptional trust and confidence. So when one party tries to tell voters that it’s so much more trustworthy than the other party, voters are naturally going to be very skeptical. Voters aren’t about to believe that any politician or political party in Congress is really very pure. The politicians may, in fact, be clean, but almost no one will believe it. Most Americans don’t want to think of themselves as being that naive.

The Democrats’ strategy has other shortcomings, too. By focusing so much on DeLay, they are not making any broader points.

Suppose DeLay just up and quit. Where would the Democrats be then?

Only inside the Democratic cloakrooms does anyone believe that the 1994 GOP Revolution happened because of Jim Wright's ethical problems. Keep in mind that this permanent GOP majority has already had two Speakers resign in disgrace, nevermind a leader no one's ever heard of, and Democrats have nothing to show for it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 25, 2005 10:07 AM