The case of Rep.William Jefferson, one of the CAFTA 15, gets even more sticky.Yesterday, the Democratic caucus voted to strip Jefferson of his seat on the Ways and Means Committee because of the bribery allegations that loom over him.

In explaining her position, Nancy Pelosi takes the position I’ve taken here–everyone is innocent until proven guilty BUT it’s kind of hard to ignore $90,000 in cash stashed in Jefferson’s freezer.

But, in a sense, Jefferson is right when he claims the vote is political and perhaps unfair–unfair in that House Democrats have avoided stripping another member of the House of a position he holds while he is under investigation:

Jefferson and some of his Black Caucus allies have noted Pelosi’s relative silence on the legal troubles facing Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.), whose commercial investments are being scrutinized by federal investigators for potential connections to his duties as a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mollohan acknowledged this week that he misstated more than a dozen transactions on his financial disclosure forms and said he had amended them “to correct any inaccurate impressions about my finances.” He resigned earlier this year as the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee but retains his Appropriations Committee seat.

The above was pointed out by The Washington Post but not The New York Times.

I agree that the Democrats are moving against Jefferson in large part because the party’s electoral strategy rests heavily on the message that “the party in power is corrupt.” As I’ve argued for many weeks, this is a failed strategy. Voters do not yet know what the Democrats stand for. Without a real vision for the country, the Democrats are not going to do well this year because (a) corruption stories like Jefferson will give people the sense that there is no difference between the two parties and (b) because the Democratic party is not clearly united against the Iraq war.

Without a very clear stand on this unpopular, immoral war, the Democrats will be vulnerable to a Fall surprise (just check out the momentary, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to capitalize on the killing of Al-Zarqawi). While I don’t believe the urban myth that the Republicans have Osama bin Laden in chains somewhere, ready to unveil him two weeks before the election, there are a host of other options. Certainly, it’s possible that voters might find a last-minute gambit too political to swallow but don’t count on it.