Bean Under Pressure in the 8th

NY Times above the fold story on the GOP enlisting "rich" candidates to run against Democrats, many of them vulnerable freshman elected in GOP leaning districts when Rahm ran the anti-war, anti-incumbent table last time. The Democrats are engaging in the very business as usual they briefly deplored, which accounts for a significant amount of their cash advantage, and the word is getting out (not in the NY Times). WSJ last month:

When Republicans were in control, Ms. Pelosi and company denounced the "K Street Project," run by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. They protested that corporate lobbyists were allowed to become a fourth branch of government--and in some cases their protests had merit, as Republicans curried favor with money interests.

Meanwhile, Democrats under Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Schumer have quietly erected their own K Street Project, and employ some of the same strong-arm tactics they once deplored. "I've never felt the squeeze that we're under now to give to Democrats and to hire them," says one telecom industry representative. "They've put out the word that if you have an issue on trade, taxes, or regulation, you'd better be a donor and you'd better not be part of any effort to run ads against our freshmen incumbents."

This time the Democrats are the incumbents, and their surrender at any price strategy in Iraq has been preempted by the progress made by the surge, while their miserable failure to enact any meaningful legislation has put the Do-Nothing Democrats in a bind. Not to mention their plan to raise taxes to crushing levels--an increase of $3.5 TRILLION over 10 years, the largest tax increase in history. In the Illinois Eighth, Melissa Bean is under pressure from Republican porkbuster Steve Greenberg:

Over several meetings at the party’s headquarters in Washington, those strategists showed Mr. Greenberg charts and maps of the district’s demographic and voting patterns to make the case that he could unseat the two-term Democratic incumbent, Representative Melissa Bean.

The pitch worked: Mr. Greenberg, who owns Herr’s Pacific, a chain of stores that sell art supplies and craft materials, entered the race, telling party leaders that he was willing to spend his own money to run the campaign, party officials said.

And at least the self-financing Republican challengers have earned their income by successfully managing an enterprise, rather than oinking and slurping at the public trough.

UPDATE: The Do-Nothing Democrats: And has the Democrat Congress worked for you? Check out this video:P.S. The Democrats are the party of the rich now, didn't you know?