Say WHAT?

Washingtonians (left-coast Washingtonians, not those phonies who live in that federal enclave on the Potomac River) are rightfully proud to be represented in the United States Senate by Patty Murray. Politicians being what they are, one might think it would be impossible to reformulate standard gas-bag rhetoric into truly new and wondrous forms. But the Senator has succeeded where others have failed.

Congressional Democrats believe they have hit upon a winning strategy: Jack Abramoff. Their plan is to repeat "Jack Abramoff" as many times as they can (until, perhaps, it displaces "Haliburton" in the lexicon of unexamined political curses), and suggest that the invocation is reason enough to vote Democrat.

Abramoff, as you may recall, is the now-disgraced former lobbyist and Washington power-broker who showered cash and valuable parting gifts on powerful politicians. Most of his largesse, of course, fell upon Republicans, as they have pretty much been in power over the life of Jack's amazing arc from obscurity to Master of the Universe, to felon. But Mr. A was an equal-opportunity corrupter, willing to permit a variety of Democrats (including Harry Reid) to jam their snouts into his trough.

Senator Murray, it seems, received more than $40,000 in Abramoff-directed "campaign contributions." In her case (as in that of Senator Reid) Jack himself didn't write the checks, but he instead directed his cash-rich clients (various Indian tribes) to do so.

Now some politicians have responded to the Abramoff flame-out by giving back the cash they received, or by donating a like amount to some worthy cause. Some deny any wrongdoing, and refuse to cough up the boodle.

But only Patty Murray -- according to our crack staff of researchers -- is taking the position that she's going to keep her cash, because to give it back to the Indian tribes would . . . .

Well, don't take our word for it, let's see what her local paper reports:

Sen. Patty Murray said Friday that returning contributions from Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff would "taint" the tribes.

The state's senior senator, a Seattle Democrat, said there was nothing wrong with accepting more than $40,000 in campaign donations from out-of-state tribes represented by the disgraced lobbyist.

Abramoff's excesses have been halted, and Congress is considering myriad ethics reforms, she said.

The donations, from 1999 to 2005, placed Murray second among Senate Democrats and ninth overall in the Senate, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C., organization that tracks money in politics.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption and tax evasion.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in Michigan gave Murray $14,980. She received $12,000 from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in California; $9,000 from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; and $5,000 from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the report said.

A number of lawmakers, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., returned similar contributions or sent the money to charity. Murray's staff announced last month that she saw no reason to do so.

Can we make this stuff up? No, we cannot.