Foley Consuming GOP As Elections Draw Near

[CatWoman]

By Michael Grunwald and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 8, 2006; Page A01

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (R-Fla.) was trying to talk about security Friday at bustling Port Everglades, but with planes roaring overhead and containers slamming onto trucks, nobody could hear him.

That's a common problem for Shaw and Republican candidates around the country these days -- trying urgently 30 days before Election Day to frame a winning message but finding their efforts drowned out by the furor over former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.).

"It's sucking all the air out of the room," Shaw said in an interview after his news conference at the port. "It's a tough time; there's just total saturation right now."

Back in Washington, Republican strategists acknowledge privately that even under their best-case scenario, Foley's sexually charged messages and allegations that House leaders were too passive in responding to them will remain an all-consuming distraction for GOP campaigns for the next week.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted after the revelations found 63 percent of voters "dissatisfied" or "angry" with House Republican leaders, and 73 percent disapproving of the job Congress is doing. In a Time magazine poll, 68 percent said it will have no effect on their vote, but only 16 percent said GOP leaders handed it appropriately.

"People aren't going to vote on this issue, but it's given people an easy way to think about everything they're unhappy about," said Democratic media consultant Anita Dunn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/07/AR2006100701059.html

[proud patriot]

1. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !

:woohoo:

[CatWoman]

2. LOL

Hey Girl :hi:

:rofl:

[proud patriot]

23. Hey

:hug: :rofl:

[savemefromdumbya]

3. The party of moral values???? ROFL

:rofl:

[pnwmom]

14. It's the party of oral values.

In more ways than one.

[savemefromdumbya]

22. More LOL!

[mcscajun]

4. Schadenfreude!!!

Playing at a location near you; now in its second smash week!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[CatWoman]

5. that is a very good article, isn't it?

:)

[salinen]

6. This scandal will last years

or do we forget about Lewinsky? America has a bottomless pit curiosity about others sex. Grocery counter mags will remind them daily.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[daleo]

8. Whenever I hear the name "Clay Shaw" I think of the movie JFK. n/t

[Greeby]

9. Same here. every time I see the name, I have to remind myself

It's this Shaw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Clay_Shaw%2C_Jr.

And not this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shaw


Although as Congressman Shaw has lung cancer, the phrase "sucking all the air out" is rather unfortunate

[bobbie]

13. Same reaction I have--Clay Shaw=the only CIA thug to be tried...

...for JFK's murder. I wouldn't want him as a namesake, but a neocon might...

[Beetwasher]

10. I Have A VERY SPECIAL MESSAGE For Hastert!

Don't let the bastards get ya down! You go boy!

[Freedom_from_Chains]

11. This might not necessarily be good news

If the regime thinks it could loose this election, things could get rough.

[lonestarnot]

12. Teehee!

:nopity:

[Cobalt-60]

15. Incredible

These crooks have been dog paddling through the sewage for six years.
Their propaganda apparatus was depressingly effective at convincing all to just enough idiots that wrong was right. Somehow they got people to ignore their wholesale electoral cheating. Somehow they sold just enough idiots the idea that an ignorant jackass would make a good president.
And after all that, After they've laid our country low, after they destroyed our industrial base, after they've effectively exterminated the middle class, after they've plundered the treasury, after they've soiled our national reputation, one dirty old freeper caught with his hands in the cookie jar brings it down.
It's like watching Martian War Machines fall.
Maybe there really are miracles.
We shall see in a month.

[SoCalDem]

16. Kind of like when they were slamming Clinton 24/7 for a decade

like that?? like that?? like that??

:rofl:

[Trajan]

17. One week ago ....

I argued, with others on both sides, how wonderful a gift this has been for us, politically ...

It is quite obvious this is hitting them hard ....

This is the kind of sensationalism that drives the media .... The WORST thing the GOP could do was have a sex scandal blow up one month before election day ....

Cherish this gift, while it lasts ....

[Toots]

18. Well I am one of those 68% that it will have no effect on my vote I guess

:shrug: Nothing they do will have any effect on my vote. I would never vote Republican.

[rodeodance]

19. Foloy is the GOP's ball and chain.

[rodeodance]

20. nyt: Foley Case Upsets Tough Balance of Capitol Hill’s Gay Republicans

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/washington/08culture.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print

October 8, 2006
Foley Case Upsets Tough Balance of Capitol Hill’s Gay Republicans
By MARK LEIBOVICH

.......

“You can see where it would be easy for some people to blame gays for something that might bring down the party in Congress,” said Brian Bennett, a gay Republican political consultant. He was a longtime chief of staff to former Representative Robert K. Dornan, Republican of California, who regularly referred to gays as Sodomites.

“I’m just waiting for someone in a position of authority to make this a gay issue,” Mr. Bennett said of the Foley case.

The presence of homosexuals, particularly gay men, in crucial staff positions has been an enduring if largely hidden staple of Republican life for decades, and particularly in recent years. They have played decisive roles in passing legislation, running campaigns and advancing careers.

Known in some insider slang as the Velvet Mafia or the Pink Elephants, gay Republicans tend to be less open about their sexual orientation than their Democratic counterparts. Even though the G.O.P. fashions itself as “the party of Lincoln” and a promoter of tolerance, it is perceived as hostile by many gay men and lesbians. Republicans have promoted a “traditional values” agenda, while some conservatives have turned the “radical gay subculture” into a reliable campaign villain. And there are few visible role models in the party; Representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona is the only openly gay Republican in Congress.

[The Count]

21. Only poetic justice for the Monica witch hunt....

What wouldn't thet give now for Foley's being with 22 years old women instead!