Scott Lee Cohen-- Who's To Blame When The Party Gets Out Of Hand?

Sure, when Rahm Emanuel was DCCC chair he saddled Democrats with a brace of extremely reactionary candidates-- personal picks Heath Shuler and Tim Mahoney have been standouts, the former for being a congenital aisle crosser and an inhabitant of the cult-like Family house in DC where he rooms with Jim DeMint, and the latter, an actual Republican, for a spate of sex scandals-- but you can't always blame Democratic Party bosses for picking bad candidates. Creigh Deeds and Martha Coakley, two recent examples, both won vigorously contested primaries. Last night you probably read about another Democratic Party primary winner, Scott Lee Cohen, dropping out as the party's nominee for Illinois Lt Governor. Thank God.

Cohen would probably have sunk the entire Illinois Democratic ticket and would certainly have dragged Governor Pat Quinn-- who would have been yoked to him-- down to defeat. The short version:

For days, the pawn broker-turned Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor was dogged over allegations he abused anabolic steroids, went into fits of rage, sexually abused his then-wife, got behind in child support payments and held a knife to the throat of a former girlfriend who is a convicted prostitute.

The race would have been a godsend for the GOP. The man is actually of the caliber of David Vitter, and his departure from the race is the best news Democrats in Illinois have heard since he actually surprised everyone by winning the 6-way primary, spending over $2 million of his own money in the process.

Illinois Democratic leaders, foremost among them Michael Madigan, the party chair and state House speaker, pressured Cohen out of the race. Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias and Gov. Quinn were also calling on Cohen to step aside for the good of the party. Mayor Daley had said the party was stuck with Cohen, refused to pressure him -- and blamed the press for not vetting him thoroughly during the campaign. It was as though he was reminding everyone of the good old days when the Mayor of Chicago picked the Democratic candidates for... well, everything.