The indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) comes as Democratic congressional leaders just this week launched a new campaign to shine a spotlight on what they call the GOP “culture of cronyism and corruption.”

Democrats for months have been trying to leverage DeLay’s various ethical woes, attempting to demonize him and make him the face of all things negative about Republicans, whether on policy or politics.

Now the Democrats have the indictment of the No. 2 Republican in the House to exploit, sure to pile it on as the Bush White House is on the defensive over the response to Hurricane Katrina.

The indictment, coming from the Democratic Travis County, Texas, prosecutor the DeLay camp has long accused of running a political witch hunt, forced DeLay to step down temporarily as majority leader.

The criminal-conspiracy charge stems from fundraising for the DeLay-led successful Texas state redistricting battle, which resulted in more GOP House members being elected from the Lone Star State.

DeLay’s office issued a statement calling the indictment a “partisan vendetta.”

House Democratic leaders stressed the crony theme in a wind-blown presser outside of the Cannon House Office Building on Tuesday with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Bob Mendendez (N.J.), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.).

Senate Democrats followed yesterday with a detailed manifesto of GOP lapses titled “A culture of cronyism and corruption.”

This “unified thrust shows a greater effort to show the House and Senate Democrats speak with the same voice on key issues,” said Joe Shoemaker, communications chief for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is the Democratic whip.

Pelosi and her team used the 11th anniversary of the unveiling of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” as a peg for the cronyism message. The GOP Contract campaign — launched on the Capitol steps — led to the Republican takeover of the House in 1994.

The House Democratic leaders turned it around for the anniversary. Emanuel said the GOP ought to be sued for “breach of contract.”

It is “the era of Tom DeLay and Michael Brown,” Emanuel said, referring to the former FEMA chief who was at that very minute being chopped and diced at a hearing next door at the Rayburn Building boycotted by all Democrats except two from the Gulf Coast region.

• Pelosi not wavering. The corruption blitz comes as House and Senate Dems are sticking to — indeed cranking up — their calls for an independent commission (along the lines of the Sept. 11 commission) to probe failures in Katrina relief and response. Even though Republicans were tough on Brown, Pelosi stuck with her charge that the hearings are/will be a “whitewash.”

Pelosi is determined not to fill the seats on the Katrina panel chaired by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and created with House GOP votes.

• BTW: Emanuel said he dreamed up the “Breach of Contract” slogan while swimming laps at the Rhode Island Avenue YMCA, a venue often providing inspiration for the DCCC chief.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it