On gay marriage, for instance, Democrats were all over the lot on the issue. Republicans used it to sharpen their message - that this is what we stand for on this and all these other social, moral values as well.

People may have feelings about an issue in some amorphous way, but then something happens that crystallizes these feelings and that helps people distinguish between position A and position B. Wedge issues sharpen those feelings.

Everyone who comes out of the process clean will have that much more credibility.

[So does this bode well for Bridgeport?] I think so, ... A corruption investigation is a good thing. It shows something is being done.