Democrats happy to let Gonzales dangle, keeps focus on Chimpy and his blunders for 2008

[jefferson_dem]

Democrats happy to let Gonzales dangle
They feel that if the attorney general remains in office, voters are likely to focus on Bush in 2008, not the GOP nominee.
By Peter Wallsten and Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writers
August 7, 2007

WASHINGTON — Democrats are not winning the battle to force Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales from office, stymied by a legal system that gives the Bush administration wide discretion to block investigations of itself. And they are not getting the White House witnesses or records they have demanded in recent weeks.

But many Democrats are fine with that.

Although they may prove fruitless, the Democrats' investigative efforts may help keep President Bush and his administration the center of attention in next year's elections, even as the Republican Party chooses a new standard-bearer and tries to move on.

With Congress beginning a monthlong summer recess last weekend — and with Gonzales still entrenched at the Justice Department — the focus is turning to the candidates and their opinions of Gonzales' tenure. Lawmakers also will hear what constituents make of the attorney general's performance.

Even if Gonzales survives until Bush leaves office, strategists hope his continued presence damages GOP candidates across the country.

"This becomes a piece of the race," said David E. Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is managing Democrat John Edwards' presidential campaign. By highlighting Bush's allegiance to Gonzales, Democrats hope to make a point about how a Democratic administration would be different, drawing "the contrast of what we have and what we could have," Bonior said.

<SNIP>

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-stalemate7aug07,0,4086691,full.story?coll=la-home-nation

[C_U_L8R]

1. Ah the old lemons into lemonade strategy :-)

[applegrove]

2. T'is true. It will keep the corruption front and centre.