Specifically, does it have a sword for the purpose of “falling on”? The Democrats certainly do. Remember Bob Torricelli? He was a sure loser in November of 2002, and he was only implicated (at that point) in wrongdoing. The Democrats’ response: “Bye-bye Bob! Frank is now our man. Fall on that sword or we’ll stick it in you.”

Contrast that to Conrad Burns, who had his troubles with Jack Abramoff. Barely a peep from the GOP. Just let him run and get beaten.

Now we’ve got a senator who has pled guilty, and any explanation he gives is going to come off as completely unconvicining. If the GOP can’t figure out that this is time to push aside one of their own so that someone with a clean slate can run in his place, then this party has some huge problems.