Dems Trying to Move Jefferson to the Back of the Bus

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is desperately trying to get Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson out of the media eye and out of the House leadership, but she's run into a roadblock known as the Congressional Black Caucus:

House Democratic leaders are determined to sanction Rep. William Jefferson, scandal-scarred but unindicted, despite a blunt reminder from the Congressional Black Caucus that he is entitled to a "presumption of innocence."

"It's about to blow up in their face," predicted Rep. Melvin Watt, chairman of the CBC.

The North Carolina Democrat added Thursday night that black voters might wonder why a "black member of Congress" would be stripped of his committee post with neither rule nor precedent to justify it.

It is rare that I could find anything the CBC does that I could agree with, but I'm with them on the Jefferson matter. Although I think Jefferson is probably guilty as sin, he hasn't been charged with anything and to remove him based on incomplete investigations or rumors of wrongdoing is unfair to Jefferson, and certainly not in keeping with the constitutional principle of "innocent until proven guilty".

The reality is Pelosi and the Dems were hoping to campaign against Republicans this fall with their "culture of corruption" talking points, but it makes it difficult for their pot to call the kettle black, when their pot is, well, black too.

If the Dems as a whole vote to oust Jefferson from his committee post, it then has to go to the full House for a vote. I hope the GOP is smart enough to abstain on that vote and let the Dems decide it themselves. With all the good African-American candidates running for top positions this year, this heavy handed tactic from Pelosi might make some blacks give another look to the GOP candidates instead of blindly following the Democrats, who frankly have done nothing to really help out their communities.