Mr. Emanuel, who is headed to Congress from the North Side of Chicago equipped with legislative expertise and connections to rival those of most senior lawmakers, said his actions were being misinterpreted and exaggerated.
His rise from relative obscurity to center stage has come with astonishing speed, and with it, Mr. Paterson is about to face something new: serious scrutiny of his legislative record, political connections and handling of government money over two decades.
He is also accused of accepting $42,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents — acting as a Chee Kung Tong "consultants" — in exchange for political connections, legislative action to amend marijuana policy, and to help friends obtain government tech contracts.
"The media scrutinized everything from his legislative record to his connections to Louis Farrakhan, and frequently addressed the question of whether journalists have been too soft on the front-runner for the Democratic nomination," the study said.
Mr. Paterson, New York's governor-to-be, can now expect to face something new: statewide scrutiny of his 23-year legislative record, his political connections and his handling of government money.
He says his combination of suburban background, legislative experience and downstate connections make him the best candidate this time.
"People don't always make the connections" between legislative budget debates in the spring and public-sector service cutbacks in summer and fall when budget cuts are implemented, Hedges said..
"This is the last step in divorcing the law lords from any connection with the legislative business of the House of Lords," says Lord Phillips, the president of the new court.That Britain is only now severing ties between Parliament and the judiciary is more than a touch ironic.
Recent polling and legislative victories have made the connection even clearer to me, as well as many in the mainstream media.
It's not as though they haven't privately nursed fantasies of ditching the numbing routines and indignities associated with a legislative life and exploiting their connections in the service of making millions (though maybe not billions) of dollars.
