On Nov. 7, 2006, voters across the nation rejected what they perceived as President Bush’s mismanagement of the war effort and Republican corruption. From House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., defending Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., against the FBI to Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., entering rehab because of filthy e-mails to underage boys to Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., being whisked away to jail, American voters had enough.

Fast-forward just over a month to Rep. John Boehner’s fight to become the new House Minority Leader. The Ohio Republican admitted that the public viewed the GOP as corrupt and wrote, “In 1994 we made it clear we wouldn’t tolerate such activity, and showed our differences with the Democrats, by changing our rules to deny prime leadership and committee positions from any member who had been indicted. The problem is that this isn’t good enough any more. Voters correctly expect more from us, and we should expect more from each other.” His recognition of the issue and willingness to clean house helped him solidify support to become the leading House Republican.

More recently, Boehner turned his back on his call for higher standards. He led the House Republican Steering Committee to appoint Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., to the House Appropriations Committee.

Calvert replaced John Doolittle, R-Calif., who stepped down from the committee due to a pending FBI investigation. Already the Republicans had lost Cunningham, a fellow appropriator, to a prison term. The Republicans are also coming to grips with the possibility of losing Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, as a result of an ongoing FBI investigation.

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Boehner, who told the Politico that maintaining “geographic diversity” on the Appropriations Committee was more important than ethics charges, pushed Calvert’s nomination at the behest of Lewis.

Unfortunately, Calvert, like his fellow California Republican appropriators, has also had records seized by the FBI. Additionally, Calvert has been arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution. This is the man House Republicans’ leaders thought was the best choice to replace the embattled Doolittle. Calvert was not, however, the only choice.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was a contender. His son fought in Iraq and, at a time when the Democrats intended to defund the war, Wilson would have been a logical choice.

Had “geographic diversity” really been important, Boehner could have appointed Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., the conservative Republican Study Committee’s resident budget expert. Sadly, what seemed most important was honoring the trend of appointing FBI- investigated congressmen to the Appropriations Committee.

Outraged House Republicans are finding friends in the blogosphere. RedState.com, joined by the Family Research Council, has declared war on the Steering Committee. Over the next few weeks, RedState readers will call Steering Committee members and demand to know how the members voted on the Calvert nomination.

Then, the readers will send top donors of these members Calvert’s police report and documentation of the Riverside County, California’s grand jury investigation of a Calvert-backed land deal.

It is no secret the GOP is held to a higher ethical standard in the mainstream media than are the Democrats. It should be no secret that the GOP must clean up its own house now, in this off year, before facing the voters again in 2008. If the House Republicans continue ignoring their grassroots base, the base just might start ignoring them.

Erick Erickson is proprietor of the RedState.com blog.