From the Other Klein, this is an important point:
Even the loveliest, sweetest-smelling of pols must place himself in the proximity of scuzzballs these days. John Edwards may not take any PAC contributions, but he probably has more than a few skeevy ambulance chasers contributing to his campaign, one of whom may be involved in a biotech stock that he mentions to the Edwards' friend running the blind trust...and you know the rest. This is part of being alive, upper middle class and successful these days, which everyone running for office is. Which is not to say that we shouldn't chase down the crooks who use their political position to engage in Confucian capitalism--that is, insider trading. But we also have to allow our pols to be human beings, with portfolios.
If guilt can be proven through association, there's going to be a lot of guilt, because national politicians have a lot of associations.
Also, I thought this, from one of his commenters, was pretty funny:
Vote McCain--A human being with a portfolio.
Vote Giulliani--Half human half portfolio.
Vote Romney--A Portfolio with a human exoskeleton.
