As Republican scandals grow, the parallels between 2006 and 2026 become unavoidable

At this point 20 years ago, there was a Republican president working alongside a Republican-led Congress, though things were not going especially well for the GOP, despite its power.

There was a failing and unpopular war underway in the Middle East, the White House was investing too much political capital in a doomed and unnecessary legislative priority, the GOP-led House and Senate had little to show for their majorities, and polls showed Democrats in a good position ahead of the Republican president’s second and final midterm election cycle.

Sound familiar?

But making matters worse for the GOP was the astonishing number of Republican lawmakers who were caught up in ugly scandals in 2006. Names like Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney and Mark Foley became nationally notorious for a reason — and in the 2006 midterms, the party lost its majority, due at least in part to the backlash to the party’s “culture of corruption.”

Two decades later, the names are different, but the circumstances are eerily familiar. There’s another failing and unpopular war underway in the Middle East, but the war is with Iran, not Iraq. The White House is against investing too much political capital in a doomed and unnecessary legislative priority, but now it’s a voter-suppression package instead of Social Security privatization. The GOP-led House and Senate still have little to show for their majorities, and polls again show Democrats in a good position ahead of a Republican president’s second and final midterm election cycle.

As for Republican lawmakers caught up in scandals, DeLay, Cunningham, Ney and Foley have been replaced by a different set of characters:

Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio is facing bipartisan resignation calls over domestic abuse allegations, which he’s long denied.
Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida has been at the center of several scandals, and he has long insisted that he’s done nothing wrong. A judge last fall issued a restraining order against him for “protection against dating violence” after his ex-girlfriend accused him of threatening and harassing her.
Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina faced a lengthy investigation from the House Ethics Committee, which concluded that there was “substantial reason” to believe he violated congressional sexual harassment rules with his “intimate and effusive attentions” toward two young women who worked in his office. (In response to the committee’s report, Edwards’ campaign issued a statement arguing that the findings “completely exonerate” him, which anyone who read the panel’s findings would find difficult to take seriously.)
Former Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas resigned in disgrace four months ago after facing mounting scrutiny over multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving former staffers, including an affair with an aide who later died by suicide.

I’m mindful of the fact that two House Democrats, Eric Swalwell of California and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, have also been forced to resign in the face of scandals during this Congress, but that doesn’t negate the familiarity of circumstances in which the GOP finds itself.

As for whether the outcomes in 2026 mirror the massive Democratic gains in 2006, we’ll find out in 91 days.

The post As Republican scandals grow, the parallels between 2006 and 2026 become unavoidable appeared first on MS NOW.