Ensign's Hypocrisy and GOP's Silence Makes for Disaster for Republicans

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Rebecca Freitag

The Sen. Ensign affair (pun intended) is reaching its second week, and the usual cries from the elephants over a politician sex scandal are missing.

With several calls for Ensign to step down from his Senate seat, and a bevy of statements from political players, where are all the Republicans? The GOP has yet to release a statement denouncing or backing Ensign's behavior, and with the recent rash of Republican scandals, they should do something about their members' behavior.

Ensign made a statement, Ensign's wife made a statement, even the Hamptons made a statement.

But what we've heard, or not heard, from Republicans has been faint bits of praise and a lot of essentially "no comments."

The affair is one thing, but raises and jobs funded by the campaign donors and the GOP donors? The GOP's lack of statement says a lot about the party. The party of family values and sacredness of marriage (between a man and a woman, of course) just had a high-ranking leader cheat on his wife, and abuse campaign and party funds, among other things. The same leader they were setting up for a possible presidential bid.

The GOP silence signals a struggle in the party at a time when the leaders are trying to rebuild, but what happens when the scandal is involving a leader? The credibility of the GOP is being taken out from right under them.

The credibility of Ensign has its own problems. The senator who publicly called on President Clinton and former Sen. Larry Craig to resign after their controversial sex scandals while in office, Ensign is an outspoken family/marriage advocate. He is a member of the Christian evangelical group Promise Keepers, a group dedicated to promoting strong families and marriages. With his own call to himself to resign, he better hope that the membership fee is refundable because he might need the extra income.

If Sen. Ensign does not resign, the situation weakens an already declining GOP Senate, and the more opportunity for the Democrats, especially fellow Nevada Senator Harry Reid, to get more money, support and organization, and the more time the Republicans have to screw something else up.

Practice what you preach, GOP, because this race you're planning to win against the Democrats is not looking good. Another one bit the dust, and we can probably count on one hand who you have left.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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