A House Republican "Dear Colleague" letter (pdf) worth reading. Highlights:

Simply put, the current climate we [the Republican conference] face is the worst it has been since we seized the majority in 1994. Any Member of Congress who fails to understand that should read the polls. If we do not understand voters' anger and respond, we will suffer the consequences in November. [...]

Fairly or unfairly, the recent scandals are tarnishing our party's image, and threatening our majority in the House of Representatives. We must make a clean break and support real reform.

The recent scandals are taking a toll. Three times as many voters say corruption is a bigger problem among Republicans than Democrats. Of voters who associate Jack Abramoff with one party or the other, 15 times as many associate him with the Republicans Party (30 percent Republicans, 2 percent Democrats). According to a CBS News poll released on January 9, more than twice as many Americans believe that Republicans are more corrupt than Democrats (36 percent say Republicans are more corrupt, 16 percent say Democrats).

Quite a disconnect between these poll results and what the pundits have been saying that the public is turned off by both parties equally over the corruption scandals.

(Thx to JK).

Posted by Laura at January 26, 2006 05:07 PM