Rangel Says It's Still Not Affecting Him

I asked Charlie Rangel yesterday after the African-American Day parade in Harlem about the attention he continues to get from the media about his unresolved ethics issues--and about how they've impacted him.

“Not at all. Not at all. I’ve got overwhelming support. Not one Democrat doesn’t support me. Republicans support me. I’m the top fund-raiser in the Democratic Party. If I was them, I’d be after me too,” Rangel said.

I asked if the probes have impaired his ability to act constructively in the aftermath of the Wall Street meltdown.

Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, said, “I was out with President Bush last night at the White House, and most of Wall Street was there. Nothing stops me. I was with the Second Infantry Division [in] Korea. This is light stuff. It’s just a bad odor from The New York Post. And that will pass too.”