Here's the predatory behavior. It's shocking that a Congressman would flirt with disaster like this. Seems like he almost wanted to get caught. It's also totally unbelievable that his staff would not know of his predilections.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
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Apparently, his staff did know of his predilictions. His chief of staff Kirk Fordham has admitted it--and said he told the GOP leadership three years ago.
I do not think one need assume Foley's behavior is so outrageous that he must've wanted to be caught. I'll bet what happened was the man just could not help himself. Sexual frustration and repression can be pretty powerful motivator, especially when one is drunk and horny. Foley just fell down the slippery slope.
Judging by the number of posts in the last week, I can see that this scandal has some of the Citizens frothing at the mouth. But in reality, I doubt it will make any difference. People see their Congressmen like they do their doctors. All of them are cheaters that shouldn't be trusted execpt theirs. I doubt it will change too many votes. What it does do is give people another reason to be disappointed.
If dems push too hard on this, they may piss off too many voters, and have it all backfire. It's sort of like Reps did with Clinton. They pushed scandal to the limit and gave the guy a 70% approval rating simple because people were tired of hearing it, or so they said.
This is an aside, but the other thing that bugs me is the parade of Republicans lining up to start talking about 'protecting our children'. For starters, 16 year old boys aren't childern. Secondly, he was hitting on pages, not really a random sampling of the population. So it wasn't like he was menace to the general public. This is NOT meant to say that what he did was OK. It was NOT. It's just that the pundits are running all over with the "save our children" thing, using fear again, when it isn't really necessary.
I guess I had the same reaction when I heard car makers were required to change all the buttons for opening electric windows because 7 kids over 7 years had choked to death by crawling around on the controls and getting their head caught in the electric window, or when I heard parents protesting about irradiated meat being served in schools because 30 kids out of the millions in schools eating meat had died over 15 years. It's like, get some perspective, please.
// posted by USWest
Fortunately for America, US West is mistaken to dismiss this scandal.
I've seen solid research on historical scandals going back to WWII that show that Republican voters in particular are unforgiving of candidates when sex is involved. Democrats on the other hand are forgiving of sex scandals but ruthless with candidates who take bribes and such.
Also, with Monica it really was obviously partisan. Republicans were driving the investigation and wouldn't let it drop. In this case, national Democrats are taking a remarkably low profile on it. Republicans and Conservatives are eating each other alive over this and the Democrats are letting them have their space for now.
Also, there are the latest poll numbers from Time which show:
78% of voters know about the scandal.
64% of voters think the GOP leadership covered this up for political gain.
25% of voters say this will make them less likely to vote Republican (devasting in a close election!).
Then there are even rumors (on Fox news no less) about an internal Republican poll that predicts a 20 seat GOP loss in the House if Hastert quits and a 50 seat loss if he stays. He's staying. I tried to find the story on their website and couldn't dig it up in the time I have right now.
All that ignores the effect of having the top three Republican leaders in the country - four if you count Bush too - be poison to any local campaign.
It also ignores how this story has wiped out Bush's "Everything's coming up roses in Iraq" national tour. He can't even get his planted "reporters" to ask him about anything other than Foley and Hastert.
The Republicans are officially "Off Message" for the first time 14 years!
// posted by RBR
I think the reason people are upset is only partly the actual behavior of Foley. Perhaps for Republican, Christian Conservatives it's the main thing - that and the mere fact that Foley is Gay and a Republican in Congress.
But for most people the real issue here is the cover up. Hastert (and Fox News) knew about Foley for at least a year and probably for more like 3 years and not only did nothing they encouraged Foley to run for re-election even when Foley said he wanted to retire BECAUSE OF THIS VERY ISSUE!
This is a proxy for the incredible lack of judgment from an entire party that has repeatedly demonstrated that they simply can't govern. It's just taken the sexual content to get the full attention of press (and most voters). Iraq is just an abstraction to too many people and with the press prevented (or afraid) to fully cover the mess in that country it will remain so. Katrina was the first time the press really got agressive about the idiots in charge in the Republican Party today. Now we add sex to a similar "Heck of job Denny!" story and KABOOM! The press is going all out on a story that would have been the top story even before Bush got elected in 2000 if only it had made for good TV.
As it was put in one of my favorite movie lines (from Gettysburg), "They aren't fit to pour piss out of a boot with instructions written on the heal."
// posted by Raised By Republicans
That quote isn't from the moive, it's from my dad! Been saying it for years only slightly amended, "Some folks are so stupid they couldn't pour piss out of a boot . . . "
What RBR got to here is partly my point- it isn't Foley, it's Foley plus everything else.
// posted by USWest
More poll numbers : In response to the question: "Do you think the Democrats have gone too far or have not gone too far in trying to use the Foley matter for partisan advantage?"
43% overall say Democrats have not gone too far. 37% say they have and 20% are still unsure (waiting to have Hastert's and Reynolds' role confirmed I guess).
Among Republicans, 65% say Democrats have gone too far, 16% say they have not with the remaining 19% unsure. That's unusually divided for today's lock step Republican party.
Independents (aka swing voters): 45% say Democrats have NOT gone too far. 36% say they have and 19% are unsure.
Democrats (the least interesting batch for this question): 63% say Dems have not gone too far. 19% say they have and 18% are unsure.
The remarkable thing I think is that such stable percentages across party lines seem to be taking a "wait and see" approach. That could be devasting for the Republicans because I'm convinced there really was a cover up - the details just haven't fully come out yet. When this guy Fordham (aid to both Foley and Reynolds) starts giving interviews that 20% will swing in against the Republicans and that'll be all she wrote!
// posted by RBR
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