Hoyer in

Hoyer beats Murtha for Majority Leader in the House. This is good news. As important as Murtha has been in changing the debate about the war, he has a record of cronyism, his brother is a high-paid lobbyist (always a red flag) and has a dim view of the proposed ethical reforms, which in my opinion, don't go far enough.

If the Democrats want to make a lasting difference, they need to be squeaky clean. They would do themselves a favor in the long term by pushing Harry Reid aside as well. He has a Frist-lite financial disclosure scandal in his recent past, a set of embarrassing earmarks, one of which benefitted his property value directly and by all appearances and rumors, was Jack Abramoff's best Democratic ally- a relationship which is turning out to be far more cozy than Reid would have us believe. A replacement? Either senator from New York will do, no need to look any further.