Oh please, please give me Ralph Reed for Congress. I would be so happy to remind everyone of the details of this dirtbag's transactions with Jack Ambramoff:

Reed, the 49-year-old former executive director of the Christian coalition, saw his meteoric rise take an even harder fall in 2006 after the extent of his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff were revealed. He saw sizable, early leads in the polls disintegrate in his bid for Georgia lieutenant governor, and he wound up losing in the GOP primary.

But in a changed environment, the first one favoring Republicans since 2006, Reed is plotting a bid for Congress. The Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody reports Reed will declare his candidacy tomorrow morning for retiring Georgia Congressman John Linder's seat. (Linder announced his retirement on Feb. 27. The seventh congressional district is a solidly Republican one. McCain won it with 60% of the vote; Bush did so with 70%.)

“The environment is so good for Republicans right now, any conservative who ever considered running for anything, this is the year to do it,” one Republican strategist told First Read. Of Reed's ties to Abramoff, the strategist said, "It doesn't worry me too much. If he can get himself elected, then voters will have given him a clean bill of health, and he'll no doubt hold himself to a high standard in Congress. This strikes me as the sort of inside-the-beltway hand-wringing that's largely irrelevant in a country with unemployment hovering around 10 percent."

You see how "strategists" think? "Oh, the voters have short memories!" Except when the Republicans want to smear someone, of course. Let's give them a taste of their own medicine and make sure no one ever puts this corrupt hypocrite in public office.

UPDATE: (Nicole) Looks like Reed had his own face-to-face with reality and decided against running. MSNBC:

Ralph Reed has decided against a run for Congress. Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, who's political star faded after the extent of his ties to convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff were revealed in 2006, made the announcement this morning.

He does appear to be not only leaving the door open to another run for at some point, but he also appears to be trying to undergo something of a resurgence with the founding of another faith group, the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Oh good. Just what the country needed: another fundamentalist Christian political group.