It's Not Just The Republicans

Elizabeth Fulk of the CBS News Political Unit reports the Democrats had better not get too giddy about the corporate corruption scandal.

Wolfson said, "While Democrats are on the side of investors, the GOP is on the side of corporate malfeasance" and he "couldn't think of a district where this issue wouldn't play."

But while the Democrats have made a major effort to tie the White House and the GOP to the corporate scandals, the party pining to recapture control of Congress has its own corporate cross to bear in fallen telecommunications giant Global Crossing.

The Center for Responsive Politics released a report earlier this year showing that of the $3.6 million that Global donated to parties and candidates since 1997, 55 percent went to Democrats.

The FBI and the SEC are investigating Global Crossing after the firm filed for bankruptcy this year. The telecommunications company was charged with dishonest accounting, enriching top executives to the detriment of lower level employees and misleading investors about its financial prosperity.

Ken Johnson, a spokesman for Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, chairman the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said, "As in the case of Enron, we're trying to determine if some clever accounting hocus-pocus created an illusion of profitability."

Among Democrats benefiting from Global Crossing were Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who made $18 million when he cashed out most of his $100,000 investment in the company back in '98 and '99.

The DNC chair was at one point a consultant to Global Crossing's founder Gary Winnick and reportedly arranged golfing dates between Winnick and former President Clinton.

Similarly Anne Bingaman, former antitrust chief under Bill Clinton and wife of New Mexico Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman, earned $2.5 million lobbying for the telecom firm after only six months of work in 1999.

Democrat Tom Strickland, now running for the U.S. Senate in Colorado, also lobbied for Global Crossing in 1998 and 1999.

Republicans in North Carolina, meanwhile, have labeled Democratic Senate candidate Erskine Bowles "the poster boy for corporate irresponsibility."

The former Clinton White House chief of staff and Charlotte investment banker sat on the board of directors for Merck and Co. The pharmaceutical company's accounting and bookkeeping methods were recently called into question when it reported $12.4 billion in revenue to the SEC, which it said pharmacies had collected through patient co-payments but in fact the company had actually never received.

North Carolina Republican Mitch Bainwol asked, "What was Erskine Bowles doing as one of Merck's independent board members if he wasn't supervising its financial reporting?"

Bowles is also under scrutiny for his work as a partner in Forstmann Little, a New York based investment-banking firm whose recommendations triggered a loss of $100 million in the state of Connecticut's employee pension fund.

Bowles claims questions of accountability never came up when he was on the board of Merck. A Bowles spokesman said: "(Bowles) would put his record, ethically and morally, and the way he's participated in business and public service, against anybody's record in this race. If there's one person in this race who does understand…how to tackle this issue of corporate responsibility it is Erskine Bowles."

The Republicans are also fighting back with charges that DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe gave Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt's 1988 campaign an unsecured loan from his Federal City National Bank. Clearly, they are saying two can play at the game of sweetheart loans.

So while Democrats think they have found an issue which resonates with the public, they may also find that it can come back to bite them.

By Elizabeth Fulk