Sign Of The Times

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) today teams up with Sen. Ben Nelson, the Democrat from NE, to introduce legislation creating a bipartisan ethics panel charged with recommending wholesale changes to the relationship between members of Congress and lobbyists.

They're calling it the The Commission to Strengthen Confidence in Congress (CSCC)and have consciously modeled it after the 9-11 commission.

Three points.

1. NRSC chairman Elizabeth Dole yesterday said Nelson was vulnerable to a challenge by GOPers. (She especially liked Pete Ricketts and praised his Hagel-esque early television ads.)

2. Coleman, who nearly defeated Dole for the NRSC post, plans to join Nelson's weekly NE media conference call today to discuss the bill. We presume he'll include enconmiums for the NE senator.

Coleman wants a leadership post eventually, and it's safe to assume he wouldn't dare help a Dem brother out if doing so would render that Dem measurably less vulnerable.

BTW: No word on what Sen. Frist/Sen. Reid think about their mavericks and their commission idea.