BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

            I don’t know who is advising Rep. Charlie Rangel in his defense against ethics charges, but my guess is that he or she or they got a hold of a book on political campaigns by political scholars Jim Thurber and Candy Nelson of American University.  

            There’s a chapter in the book on playing defense in a campaign,  featuring four classic categories of a good defense. The defense strategy was the creative invention of Jay Bryant, Buddy Bishop and Paul Newman.  For those of a younger generation, Bryant, and his wife, Susan, Bishop and Newman were among a vanguard of political strategists in the pre-Reagan era, who helped sow the seeds of a Republican majority strategy.  

            Their wise, witty and occasionally devious thinking came to mind while I was reading an article in the Washington Examiner Sunday in which Associated Press writer Larry Margasak wrote:  

            “To rebut a lengthy list of alleged ethical misdeeds, Rep. Charles Rangel is trotting out this three-way defense:  I didn’t do it.  I did it, but was inattentive.  Other lawmakers were allowed to do the same thing without penalty.”

             Thirty years ago Bryant and Bishop thirty years ago conjured up the makings of a good defense that 20 years later appeared in the Thurber-Nelson book, and I used in a course I taught on political communications.  

The authors recommended four, not three, defense options.  Here are excerpts:

    “Denial:  Saying ‘I didn’t do it’ is the most effective defense, but is also the least often used defense, because usually the matter is not quite that simple…

    “Explanation.  The second defense, ‘I did it but it’s not like you think,’ is the most frequently used defense, in which the candidate essentially gives his or her side of the story.  There are many variations of this defense…

    “Apology.  ‘I did it, but I won’t do it again.’  Research shows that the apology defense is inherently a very powerful defense.  It usually fails, however, because it is extremely difficult to convince the voters of the candidate’s sincerity.   Thus it winds up next-to-last in this list.

            “Counterattack.  When the first three defenses are unavailable, for whatever reason, candidates will resort to attacking the source of the charge.  This may be done in conjunction with the first and second (but not the third) defense, too, but when it is the sole, or dominant message, it falls in the fourth category.”

             The Rangel version of the rules of defense incorporate Denial, Explanation and Counterattack.

            How successfully Rangel deploys these strategies is debatable, but a long line of scandal-scarred political figures before him have established plenty of precedents for him to study.

              The Rangel case is a bleak reminder why the Bryant rules are still relevant today. 

            What the history of political scandal teaches us is the futility of political figures making pompous promises to “drain the swamp”, “clean up politics”, or “put an end to corruption.”   Until we put androids in charge of our governance, the concentration of money, power, fame and a false sense of entitlement in politics will breed bad behavior, no matter how stringent the rules, no matter how pervasive the oversight; no matter how transparent the reporting, no matter how noble the intent, no matter how well you define right and wrong.  And, unfortunately, no matter what party is in office.  It isn’t just about politics and it is not unique to politics. It’s really about human nature and it is pervasive throughout our society, from Wall Street to Main Street, from Washington, D.C. to Bell, CA.

            It would be well for Congress to acknowledge the inevitability of human nature and refrain from the moralizing, politicizing,  and outlandish expectations.  Congess can meet its responsibilities to police the behavior of its members with  reasonable rules, reasonable and workable transparency, effective oversight and enforcement, and a good dose of peer pressure.  Too many of the current rules invite abuse and insult the integrity and intelligence of both elected officials and the citizenry.         

  Editors’s Note: Mike Johnson is a former journalist, who worked on the Ford White House staff and served as press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel, prior to entering the private sector. He is co-author of a book, Surviving Congress, a guide for congressional staff.   He is currently a principal with the OB-C Group.