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GOP Brush Fires Becoming Meltdown -- Part Two
by David J. Gonzo

Jan. 19, 2000 -- NEW YORK (AmpolNS) -- Not one day after the first installment of our review of the many woes facing the GOP, Capitol Hill weekly Roll Call is running their own story on morale problems plaguing Republican members of Congress.

The story reads in part:

Faced with a stiff challenge from Democrats for control of the House in November, GOP leaders plan to use an upcoming party retreat to boost morale among rank-and-file lawmakers.
The Republican retreat, scheduled for early February at a Pennsylvania resort, will include a number of inspirational speakers, such as Pennsylvania State University football coach Joe Paterno, according to GOP sources.
"I would describe the mood right now as what it should be - grave concern because of what's at stake here," said a top aide to one veteran GOP lawmaker, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"We're all political realists here. The reality is that they could win the House back. We are totally scared, but I don't see that turning to a negative yet."

Huh? "Totally scared" not "turning to a negative yet?" Not only is this "veteran lawmaker" contradicted by our own Congressional sources, but the GOP regards the possibility of losing the House as an immediate crisis -- and the party and House GOP leadership continue to scramble to stamp out this brush fire. In fact, another "GOP aide" quoted later in the Roll Call article practically echoes comments made to Ampol -- but without the degree of detail.

And this writer cannot help but enjoy the irony of the GOP holding their retreat and national convention in Pennsylvania, whose own state party is in a shambles following a series of scandals over the past year:

Regular readers of Ampol will be familiar with the name of Republican state Rep. Thomas W. Druce, who had been a rising star in Pennsylvania politics -- until allegations surfaced surrounding his early return of an SUV leased at state expense, a vehicle which matched the description of one involved in a a fatal hit-and-run accident in July. Druce was arrested yesterday and charged with four crimes, including vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident -- which carries a mandatory jail sentence. In 1996, Druce was among the legislators who voted for a new law that mandates a one-year minimum prison term for anyone who leaves the scene of a fatal accident.
Frank Serafini, a Republican member of Pennsylvania's House of Representatives, was found guilty of perjury last August, with the jury in his trial ruling that he had lied to a grand jury in connection with a scheme to funnel illegal political contributions to the presidential campaign of Pfizer spokesman Robert Dole. The situation caused further waves when Serafini (whose five-month prison sentence has been stayed pending his appeal) was allowed by the Republican majority to keep his seat -- despite a state constitutional provision that disqualifies convicted perjurers from serving in public office. And you though the entire GOP was the party of "rule of law" -- well, at least Pennsylvania's Republican state Attorney General, Mike Fisher, has gone to court in an effort to remove Serafini. And, of course, Democrats in the state's House haven't missed a trick, pummeling the "rules-is-rules" GOP over their clumsy and embarrassing handling of the situation.
The Erie Times and Philadelphia Inquirer both carried stories that Republican state Sen. William Slocum will plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to dump untreated sewage into a northwestern Pennsylvania trout stream during the time was a borough official from 1983 through 1995.
Pennsylvania state Senate Majority Leader F. Joseph Loeper Jr. is under investigation for his ties to a Philadelphia tax collection firm. Loeper has formed a legal defense fund to pay three criminal lawyers. Hey -- if it's good enough for Linda Tripp...
And Pennsylvania state Rep. Tracy Seyfert (R., Erie) is facing a charge that she illegally obtained a federal surplus electric generator to warm her private collection of exotic birds -- and with witness tampering (we don't think it was the birds she was trying to stop from "singing").

As national and state Republican officials continue their preparations for both the afore-mentioned GOP retreat and this summer's nominating convention, they hope these stories will go away -- and fast.

But to a great extent, the scandal eruptions are in large part a problem of the GOP's own making -- the result of over five years of "investigate-don't-legislate" tactics which have caused the press to become more attuned to picking up and pressing stories of coverups, perjury, witness tampering and other wrongdoing.

The issue could not have rebounded on the GOP at a worse time -- at the beginning of an election year where the GOP has everything to lose.