The Voice of Young Conservatives Blog

In politics, you have to expect the unexpected. A friend one day can be a foe the next—depending on the shenanigans going on in the political arena. No one knows this better then Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).

A former close friend to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rangel once chaired the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  Now, however, the tables have turned. The Democratic Queen is looking to banish Rangel from her kingdom.

Rangel resigned from his chairmanship in March after the ethics panel determined he had broken congressional gift rules by accepting trips to conferences in the Caribbean that were financed by corporate interests. Unfortunately for Rangel, it doesn’t look like there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The House Ethics subcommittee just found that Rangel violated additional ethics rules in a separate instance, and will begin preparations for a trial as early as tomorrow.

Ever since it was reported in early 2008 that Rangel might have used his congressional status to benefit his personal financial interests, he has been under the Ethics’ committee’s microscope. The most serious inquiries concerned Rangel’s failure to declare $239,000 to $831,000 in assets on his disclosure forms, as well as his effort to raise money for a private center named after him at City College of New York using his congressional letterhead.

An Ethics trial in September, which is when the saga will unravel if Rangel doesn’t cut a deal, is the last thing House Democrats want with Election Day fast approaching.

While only one house Democrat, Rep. Betty Sutton of Ohio, has called for Rangel’s resignation, at least two other Democrats – Rep. Brad Ellsworth, the Senate nominee in Indiana and Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, a Pennsylvania Democrat – have pledged to donate any campaign contributions received from Rangel directly to charity.

Slowly but surely other key Democrats are coalescing in support of Rangel’s resignation. On Monday Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who is heavily involved in the House Democratic re-election efforts, but it in terms of big picture, what is best for Rangel’s legacy in saying:

“I think Mr. Rangel would be wise to evaluate what’s best not only for him, but also for the causes he has advanced for as many years as he has in his long career.”

For a party who vowed to “drain the swamp” and bring transparency to Congress, the Democrats are failing miserably on delivering such promises. Democrats are continuing to engage in series of backdoor meetings with the embattled representative, in an effort to encourage a less dramatic alternative to a public trail.

Charlie Rangel is making the party look bad in an election cycle. Once a liberal friend, he is now a party foe. So when Van Hollen justifies his meeting with Rangel as “I was presenting him with some of my observations,” and claims he was acting “as a friend”, its just another instance of Democrats playing “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” in an election cycle.

By Sinead Casey (Hat tip to Samantha Cohen)