GOP using Rangel's ethics scandal to attempt to bring down as many Democrats with him as possible

While many of Rep. Charlie Rangel?a>??s friends are keeping their distance – including the White House today – the Republican Party is reveling in the mess entangling the Harlem Democrat.

After White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs ducked a couple of questions about Rangel, the RNC was quick to send out an email blast headlined:

“Gibbs: ‘Dodge of the Day’
Don’t Bother With The Ten-Foot Pole, White House Won’t Touch Rangel Ethics Scandal.”

It included the snippet of Gibbs not answering.

But probably more worrisome for Democrats were the blasts sent out by the National Republican Congressional Committee, highlighting how much money Rangel has raised for fellow Democrats, how much they’ve gotten rid of – and how much they still have.

“While approximately $574,000 in Rangel contributions have already been returned, it appears that (fill in the blank) has no problem with aligning himself with Charlie Rangel and his notorious ethics problems,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain, with the particular version that hit our in-box mentioning Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)

Versions were also sent targeting 45 other Democrats, including Staten Island Rep. Mike McMahon, whom the NRCC says has gotten $70,383 from Rangel, and returned $1,000.

They also target Long Island’s Tim Bishop, and upstate’s Dan Maffei, who once worked for Rangel, and has gotten $82,021 from his old boss, the NRCC says.

The blast accuses the specific reps of being “clearly just a typical Washington politician who is happy to fill his campaign account with dirty money while refusing to hold his party accountable for their tarnished record.”

Which, of course, is exactly the kind of allegation the Democrats were hoping to avoid going into the fall elections when Rangel had the chance to admit wrongdoing, and suffer a public rebuke of some kind. The 80-year-old congressman, however, is loathe to agree to such a black mark at the end of his career.

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