Back in the 90s, Ralph Reed was portrayed as the poster boy for GOP moral values. He was a Republican kingmaker. In return, the GOP was putting him in their pipeline to leadership -- starting with the Lieutenant Governor's office in Georgia. In reality, he's just another one of the 21st century poster boys for GOP corruption:
A bipartisan Senate report released on Thursday documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a leading Republican Party strategist, from an influence-peddling operation run by the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian tribe casinos.Ralph Reed really is the face of the GOP.
The report by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee portrayed Mr. Reed, now a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in his home state of Georgia, as a central figure in Mr. Abramoff's lobbying operation, the focus of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
Mr. Reed was depicted as having used his contacts among conservative Christian groups in the South and Southwest beginning in the late 1990's to block the opening or expansion of casinos that might compete with the gambling operations of Mr. Abramoff's clients.
