Meanwhile, you remember Mr. Murray. His political action committee gave 96 percent of its $648,000 to Republicans, whose political philosophy is hostile to government regulation of business and industry. He also feels he has close ties to Kentucky's senior senator. In warning MSHA to loosen up on a violation-plagued mine, Mr. Murray told agency officials, "Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and the last time I checked he was sleeping with your boss" -- a reference to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Sen. McConnell's wife, who oversees federal mine safety efforts.

President Bush never mentions the nexus of evil that connects contributions from Big Energy to Republican regulatory policies. But it's there.

Safety advocates protested Mr. Bush's choice of industry types to replace tough enforcement with what's euphemistically called "compliance assistance." Their naïve effort to sweet-talk operators into running safe mines was followed by a string of disasters, necessitating new state and federal safety law, with more on the way.

The primary lesson for voters in all of this is all too familiar: Follow the money.