Deja vu in Jersey

We're pretty sure that this isn't the story line the Democrats were hoping for, but it's a familiar one:

A powerful clue that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez might ultimately be forced to withdraw from his bid for a full term in New Jersey emerged last Friday, when he addressed the question head-on just hours after the world learned that he is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

“The answer is no,” he said.

Last time, you'll recall, the Democrats managed to get Bottom-feeder Bob Torricelli’s name off the ballot (despite the fact that he'd won their primary), and replaced by Frank Lautenberg, a fellow with the gravitas of your average helium balloon.

In this election cycle, though, our friends in the world's oldest political party have been particularly adamant about the sanctity of primary elections, and ballot positions for official candidates. See their views on Tom DeLay and Joe Lieberman.

But what do you want to bet that the execrable Jon Corzine, New Jersey's Governor and Democratic capo di tutti capi, and the unctuous Chuck Schumer, chief money shoveler for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, will find that this situation is somehow different from those.

This whole "culture of corruption" thing is working out nicely, don't you think?