Translate

Monday, July 14, 2008

Will Veon sink DeWeese?

Harrisburg insiders will tell you that House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese wouldn't be where he is today without Mike Veon, his former lieutenant and the man widely credited with helping the Democrats recapture the majority in the House in 2006.

How Veon orchestrated the Democratic majority is the subject of a criminal investigation.

But the other big question to emerge from the Bonusgate scandal is whether Bill DeWeese can survive his longtime association with Veon?

The Harrisburg Patriot-News ran a lengthy article Sunday detailing how DeWeese and Veon have had a longtime political partnership in Harrisburg.

DeWeese has denied any knowledge of his former No. 2's alleged illegal activities. Then again Richard Nixon denied he didn't know about the Watergate break-in.

DeWeese is finished as majority leader. Even if the Democrats can't find their backbone when they return in September and oust him, DeWeese will be replaced when the House picks new leaders in January 2009.

This is assuming DeWeese manages to win re-election in November or avoid being indicted himself. There's a good chance one of those will take place before the year is out.

Read more about the DeWeese-Veon political marriage in "Bonusgate adds postscript to turbulent partnership" at the newspaper's Web site.

No comments: