Bailing on Bush

Well, the only remaining mystery in the Jefferson case is: What took so long?

"Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat at the center of an investigation that included an F.B.I. raid at his Congressional office and accusations that he hid $90,000 in bribe money in his home freezer, was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury on 16 corruption-related felony counts," reports the New York Times.

I mean, if 90,000 bucks was found in your freezer, do you think you would skate for two years?

Actually, there's another big question: What are the Democrats, who ran against GOP corruption, going to do about their Jefferson problem?

"'The charges in the indictment against Congressman Jefferson are extremely serious,' Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. 'While Mr. Jefferson, just as any other citizen, must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power.' "

Meanwhile, public approval of the Democratic Congress is down to 39 percent, says this WashPost poll, just barely above Bush's 35. One reason is dissatisfaction among the war's opponents.

Why is this survey different than all the other ones that give Hillary a big lead? Beats me:

"Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are essentially tied for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the first time that the New York senator hasn't clearly led the field.

"The Illinois senator bests Clinton by a single percentage point, 30%-29%, if the contest includes former vice president Al Gore. Clinton bests Obama by a single point, 37%-36%, if it doesn't include Gore."

On the Republican side, it's Rudy 32, McCain 19.

We're still rehashing the Democratic debate as we gear up for tonight's Republican debate. Slate's John Dickerson says Hillary is fuzzing up the differences:

"The Democrats have now held two debates and for a second time Hurricane Katrina was uttered only in passing. The catastrophe and the issues of poverty and government competency it raised once animated discussions among Democrats, but not Sunday night. Nor was there discussion of other issues Democrats have talked about in the past like pensions, wages, and education. The candidates debated health care at some length, but Iraq and the war on terror dominated much of the evening."