Acknowledgment -- or spin -- from the top political adviser to George Bush on why Republicans lost the elections in 2006.  Karl Rove places the blame squarely on the GOP's ethical problems according to Robert Novak.  That's quite a statement from someone wrapped up in a major ethics scandal.  Rove was just subpoenaed by the Senate over the U.S. Attorneys scandal:

Karl Rove, President Bush's political lieutenant, told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party's defeat in the 2006 elections. 

Rove's clear advice to the candidates is to distance themselves from the culture of Washington. Specifically, Republican candidates are urged to make clear they have no connection with disgraced congressmen such as Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley. In effect, Rove was rebutting the complaint inside the party that Bush is responsible for Republican miseries by invading Iraq.