Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The (Party) Politics of Steroids

I will leave to others to discuss who came out better in Wednesday's hearings, except to note that you can find as many opinions as you can find voices. Some "Clemens looked better" voices are here (where commenters already are weighing in) and here; some "Clemens is toast" voices here and here.

But a question for anyone who watched, listened, or read about this:

What explains the apparent party-line split as to who seems to believe and support Clemens and who seems to believe McNamee? McNamee was attacked (quite personally, actually) by Republicans Dan Burton (who called him a liar), Christopher Shays (who called him a drug dealer), and ranking member Tom Davis (who acted as Clemens' counsel at a couple of points, jumping in to counter challenging questions directed at Clemens and asking the toughest questions of McNamee). Sharp questions were directed at Clemens by Democrats Henry Waxman and Elijah Cummings. One legal commentator expressed doubt that any request to investigate one or the other for perjury or lying-to-Congress would have bipartisan support.

Why the divide?

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