Ben Franklin once remarked, “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”

The same is true of political parties that stay in power too long.

In Washington, when power tilts too far too long in favor of one party, it is almost certain to be soiled by scandal, prompting an inevitable housecleaning by the electorate.

The GOP, which has occupied the White House for the past seven years and controlled Congress for 12 years prior to the 2006 elections, has been rocked by a string of scandals – the latest the conviction of Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, for an apparent sexual solicitation in a Minneapolis airport men’s room.

Why all the scandals?

The reasons were bluntly summed by two prominent Republicans after the party’s 2006 setbacks: “The American people took the reins of government away from the Republican Party,” said Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire senator, “in large part because they were tired of our hypocrisy.” Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee added, “Our leadership and some of our members grew arrogant in their own power, and with arrogance comes corruption.”

It’s easy to understand why corruption occurs.

The federal government spends almost $3 trillion a year. Many want to profit from this torrent of cash, particularly defense and public works contractors. Others want to influence legislation, rule-making and regulatory actions which could impact their business.

Unscrupulous influence-peddlers stand ready to lavish gifts, trips, loans, investments and campaign contributions upon lawmakers to influence decisions. The more power officials wield (and lately, that’s been Republicans), the more likely they are to be courted. For some, the temptation is irresistible, particularly when their party controls the executive and legislative branches, lessening the risk of criminal investigation or congressional inquiry.

Among the GOP luminaries caught with their hands in the cookie jar in recent years:

• Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., who resigned in November 2005 after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors for his influence on defense spending decisions;

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who resigned in November 2006 after pleading to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud regarding receipt of vacations and other perks from notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff;

• House Speaker Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who withdrew his candidacy for re-election in 2006 after being indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to violate campaign finance laws.

Democrats too had their share of scandals at the zenith of their power.

For example, Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, stepped down from House leadership positions and was later defeated for re-election after being indicted on corruption charges in 1994. Rep. Jim Wright, D-Texas, a 34-year legislator and House Speaker, resigned in 1989 after an ethics investigation showed he concealed receipt of speaking fees and gifts in excess of those permitted under congressional rules.

Then, of course, there was President Bill Clinton’s tawdry affair with Monica Lewinsky, a young White House intern. When it became public in 1998, the president was impeached for allegedly committing perjury and obstructing justice in trying to conceal the affair. Although Clinton was later acquitted in a Senate trial, the scandal paralyzed his presidency and probably contributed to the Democrats’ loss of the White House in 2000.

The hypocrisy of elected officials is often harder for voters to understand and forgive than their corruption.

Neuropsychological research suggests votes are cast based more on visceral reactions to, and identification with, candidates’ evocative slogans – their “message”- than informed decisions about issues. Therefore, candidates spend a lot of time, money and energy fashioning hot-button messages, and repeating them as “talking points.”

To solidify their political base and broaden their appeal to blue collar voters, many GOP politicians swathed themselves in a “family values” message. It was a 2004 campaign centerpiece, and the most successful Republican gimmick since 1994’s “Contract with America.”

However, preaching these values from the political pulpit meant living up to them, or they risked a high-altitude fall sans parachute.

Sen. Craig is case in point. A vocal advocate of laws limiting marriage to the union between men and women, Craig’s sexual orientation was being investigated by his hometown newspaper, the Idaho Statesman.

Undoubtedly realizing the Minneapolis incident could ruin his career, the senator quietly pleaded guilty and hoped it would be unnoticed. It surfaced instead in late August in a Capitol Hill publication, and the ensuing media frenzy prompted embarrassed Republican colleagues to call for his resignation and Craig to try to withdraw his plea.

Similarly, in August 2004, Rep. Ed Schrock, R-Va., also an opponent of same-sex marriage, as well as gays in the military, ended his campaign for a third term after a blogger reported Schrock solicited sex over a gay sex chat line. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., then chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited children, resigned in September 2006, amid allegations he had sent suggestive e-mails to a former congressional page, a 16-year-old boy.

What will happen in 2008?

If history is any indication, the electorate will have had its fill of the odor of hypocrisy and corruption and vote the entrenched party out of office. But like Franklin’s fish, the newly dominant party won’t stay fresh for long.

Elliott L. Epstein, a Lewiston attorney, is founder and board president of Museum L-A and an adjunct history instructor at Central Maine Community College. He can be reached at [email protected].