The Incumbent Protection Program

And the perpetual campaign perpetuates:

The 110th Congress has not even been sworn into office. But in a measure of the determination not to surrender the majority in two years, Representative Nancy Pelosi, the presumptive speaker, has instructed aides to begin acting immediately to help Democrats who won by small margins in districts where President Bush did well in 2004 or who coasted in because their opponents were mired by controversy. Those new members are methodically being given coveted spots on high-profile committees, in particular the Financial Services Committee, a magnet for campaign contributions, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a platform from which to send money for projects back home.

Their names will be affixed as co-sponsors atop big-ticket measures on ethics and stem cell research that are to be voted on in the first 100 hours of the new Congress, Democratic leaders said.

The special group has attended orientation sessions on topics like delivering constituent services and getting their names regularly into local newspapers.

The sessions were led by members of Congress who have won in tough districts, including Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the new head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Several said they were being told that given a choice of voting the party position and casting a vote that would help them in their districts they should feel free to retreat from the Democratic line.

Those poor freshmen. No sooner did they finish one campaign then they're already starting the next. And how screwed is it that one way of protecting incumbents is to put them on the Financial Services Committee, where banks and credit companies will shower them with donations? When are Democrats going to make campaign finance reform a serious agenda item again?