An Enron exec who testified this morn seemed to be setting up what may become the official "spin" from the Republican/Enron side of the scandal…namely, that Skilling and Fastow were sharpies who duped poor, innocent Ken Lay and the Board of Directors. Do we think this will sail? No, we do not. For one thing, Skilling and Fastow won't take the fall without bringing others down. For another, Lay has simply been too visible and, as the closest-possible buddy of the Prez, there's too much political advantage to be gained by keeping his feet to the flames.
But another problem — and I'm not kidding about this — is his name. Think about it. A lot of public figures are like a commercial product with a bad name. Once upon a time, one-time advertising man H.R. Haldeman did a marketing survey on his "product," which happened to be Richard Nixon, and concluded that the negative connotations of "nix" were not helpful. That was why in the '72 campaign, they minimized the usage of their candidate's name and plastered "Re-Elect the President" on most bumper stickers. We've seen other public figures since who lost a point or two of favor because of their monikers. It was easier to sell the idea that detective Mark Fuhrman was a racist swine because his name sounded Germanic and recalled the word, "fuhrer." Democrats have less trouble pinning obstruction charges on a guy named Tom DeLay than they might have if the gent had a different surname. And before him, it was easy to sell negatives about a man named "Newt," though — God knows — the guy did plenty to help them.
A guy named Lay is real susceptible to being portrayed as one who screwed a lot of people…especially when linked with a President named Bush and a Veep named Dick. Skilling and Fastow are names that suggest connivers, as well. The former connotes "skill" and "skinning" while the latter could be said to be pulling a "fasto." So the notion that they were the masterminds may have some legs…but Lay's name is just too perfect for him to ever get completely off the hook.
I'm quite serious about this theory, by the way. I call it The Sgt. Bilko Rule.