The Democrats' Oversight Accomplishments

Are we starting to sense a theme here?

After reporting last week that House Democrats were preparing a campaign to hammer Republicans for misdeeds, scandals and other missteps during their tenure in power, the majority's message assault got off to a bit of a slow start.

They have since gone on the attack with great gusto, though, releasing a catchy web ad on the campaign committee's website Thursday night and by issuing a report Friday that chronicles the majority's oversight actions so far this year.

Not surprisingly, the administration's many political scandals -- fired U.S. attorneys, campaign briefings in federal offices, etc. -- dominate the Democrats' early efforts, according to the list compiled by the Democratic Caucus office.

These inquiries have all made for good headlines during the first few months of this year, but the Republicans' own majority during the Clinton years is a good example that oversight will get a party only so far. At some point, they are going to have to start passing some legislation to talk about on the campaign trail -- even though that might not be necessary during the final months of George Bush's presidency.