"The November elections are still some four months away, but the Jack Abramoff scandal has already claimed its first electoral victim. It has abruptly ended the career of Ralph Reed, who was once a political kingmaker but last Tuesday got thumped in a Republican primary race for Georgia Lieutenant Governor.

The trouble arose from his ties to an old political ally, Mr. Abramoff, and the assistance Mr. Reed lent to the lobbyist's schemes. Senate and Justice Department probes turned up emails and evidence showing that Mr. Reed had received at least $4 million from Mr. Abramoff's Indian tribe clients to help protect their casinos. The payments seemed to have been funneled through tax-exempt or charitable groups to disguise Mr. Reed's contact with the gambling interests that as a political actor he'd long claimed to oppose.

Mr. Reed has not been accused of any crime himself, and during the course of the campaign expressed some regret and claimed to have learned from the episode. But hypocrisy can have its own price in politics. His primary opponent, state senator Casey Cagle, made Mr. Reed's career as a Beltway influence-peddler a central issue in the race, and in the end took 56% of the vote."

Get the Story:
Review & Outlook: Washington Parable (The Wall Street Journal 7/24)

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Abramoff Report:
�GIMME FIVE�� INVESTIGATION OF TRIBAL LOBBYING MATTERS (June 2006)

Exhibits:
Pre-2001 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Undated | Finance

Misisssippi Choctaw/DOI Letters:
Chief Martin/Jim Cason Correspondence

Relevant Links:
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - http://www.choctaw.org
Read About Reed - http://www.readaboutreed.com
Stop Ralph Reed - http://www.stopralphreed.com
Ralph Reed - http://www.ralphreed.com
Century Strategies - http://www.censtrat.com

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