A prediction: Enron may be the news story du jour but it will never become a scandal of Teapot Dome, Watergate or even Whitewater proportions and will not directly harm George W. Bush. A few Enron execs — though not those who had a lot of direct contact with our president — will be sacrificed, pleading Guilty or No Contest to some plea bargain. They'll pay fines they can easily afford, and perhaps one will do some token prison time, and some token amounts of cash will be ostensibly returned.
Then it will all be over and forgotten. (Note that I am not writing here what I think should happen but rather, what I think will.)
Why do I think this? Because too much money has been spread around. A Democrat with clean hands — assuming there is such a thing — is going to wound a lot of fellow Democrats to pursue the matter too far. Yes, Teapot Dome — which this scandal most resembles — tarred all parties, but that was then, when partisanship was not as rabid and control of the House and Senate did not hang so precariously on a handful of elections. Watergate and Whitewater were only about folks from one party doing wrong; the other could pursue them with grand outrage and talk of higher roads and morals. The American public does not buy the distinction of, "Yes, we took money we shouldn't have but they took a lot more."
It'll all go on for a few months…or until some terrorist-related victory or disaster pushes it off the CNN website. Bush, Cheney and several of their buddies will squirm a lot and make excuses that would have been called blatant, character-defining lies if uttered by someone named Clinton. There will be much talk of campaign reform and no effective action. And then it'll all be forgotten. I think.