The Reporters: US mid-terms

Mr. Webb, there's a serious deficiency in your brief synopsis. Like so many of the "media", you fail to note that consolidation in news-gathering and news-reporting agencies in the US have concentrated power in corporate, often Republican leaning hands. It wouldn't be the Democrats who lose yet another point on this one, but the "media" who purport to investigate these matters. The Democrats have had plenty of ideas, plenty of proposals, and plenty of outrage over the past six years, but the laziness of "reporters" backed by the complicity of corporate media with a corporatist government has all but silenced them in mass circulation. I've read them, I've heard them, but I actually worked to do that, sought out alternative sources, and investigated on my own. I suggest you try it; it's quite interesting work.

Well since American administration lost that precious roadmap and since American public is well aware of false elections, false wars and self inflicting wounds… this grasping for Fooley just shows how pathetic US has become…

The Democrats will not gain enough seats in the House or Senate to become the majority party, not because
of Mr. Webb's prediction that they will get the blame for this scandal, but because the U.S. electoral system is fraudulent. Two thirds of U.S.voters now vote on voting machines that have been rigged.

Yeh,

if the democrats lose now after all the muck ups and scandals and fiscal and military mismanagement, it's because Fox News has a stranglehold on US information dissemination.

It's no coincidence that the new Whitehouse spokesperson is a Fox presenter, and their main man, elite Harvard millionaire graduate Bill O'Reilly "I'm just a simple guy" is rabidly pro-Bush and right wing.

This could be a tragedy for US democracy, and lead us all into a downward economic and international relations spiral.

Let's hope god is voting dem this time round....

Justin, you must have left half of your brain in bed today. Before this debacle few people thought the Democrats could win the mid-terms, and now you're saying this should allow them to win by a huge margin? You don't undersatnd politics for sure, or how hard the Repubs are trying to hang onto their seats.

This is a shameful entry, one expects analysis from the BBC not this load of rubish. It is very possible that the Democrats will end up underpreforming in November but you never used one example of how this would happen. Wow you got a quote from an ex-Clinton official who said Democrats can run poor campaigns. At least give us some reason that this the case this year or you could tell us how a Republican having cybersex with a 16 year old boy will back fire instead of just stating that it will. Unbelievable.

Although I'm pessimistic that the Democrats will retake congress in the election, I think the lastest Zogby poll of the 15 most competitive Republican seats shows Democrats leading in 11 of those districts.

I agree with you that the Democrats are great at losing, however as long as Hastert and Reynolds refuse to step down , the sex scandal will continue to dominate the headlines and shift attention from what Foley did. To what Republican house leadership did and didn't do.

Mr. Webb, you stated, "I predict that the Democrats will get the blame for this in the end." Clearly you views are not represented in the current polls of American voters. How anyone thinks this is going to hurt the Democrats is a complete mystery to me. The GOP would have had enough trouble shaking the stink of the Iraq war come November, but this scandal is a direct hit on those Republicans running for election in both the Senate and House of Representatives. I predict the Democrats will control both houses of the legislative branch after November and Mr. Bush will be rendered a lame duck for the next two years. If not, then we in the United States are as nuts as the rest of the world already suspects us of being.

Mr. Webb,

As an American I must apologize, for something in my country has no doubt contaminated your thought process.

The high and mighty Republican party has taken a major step down, yet you are predicting that the Democrats will get blamed. What has led you to this prediction against history?

Both Democrats and Republicans have been subject to scandals in the past, as well, as they will, in the future.

Look at British politics, the scandal surrounding John Major, the scandal of Holyrood, the various scandals in Northern Ireland (secret deals and all).

No political party, anywhere in the world, is immune to scandals and history has proven they pay a terrible price for it. It's the Republican's turn. Before too long, the Democrats will be queuing for a scandal.

I'd say spend most of your time in Canada, but even our wonderful friends to the north are not immune (sadly). As long as politics exists, the scandal will be lurking close by.

Give me a break...what a ridiculous blog entry you have there. You obviously have absolutely no knowledge of how American politics works. There is NO WAY, I repeat NO WAY that the Democrats will lose in November after these revelations: they strike at the core of the Republican "faux values" base. There was also a cover up. You are out of your mind if you think Democrats will lose.

Yes, nothing like covering-up for a pedophile to earn your points with the American people. This is a HUGE win for the Republicans.

I don't think the Foley scandal will end up hurting the Democrats. I had a Republican friend whistfully tell me today that the only good thing about the Foley scandal is that it took the media's attention away from Iraq for a week.

Justin : As an ex-pat, living in the US for the past 8 years and Bush country to boot, I agree with what you are saying. I cannot vote, so I observe and reflect on the Zeitgeist.

The Democrats are at the stage as Labour was with Kinnock: They don't have much going for them apart for from they are "not the Republicans". Most Democratic voting people I know, cannot name a Dem politician who would want for President 2008. They also do not know what Dems stand for or who leads them.

The Dems may scrape over a majority in one of the elected houses this time around, but the voter environment two years down the road will be hostile.

My predication is that if still in power, GOP (Grand old Party" another term for the Republicans) will be wiped out in 2008 as the US housing bubble will be deflating big time by then. It will be like Tories were after Blair took over.

The upcoming devistation arising from "Liars loans" aka "toxic mortgages" that were based on undocumented proof of income, will become more apparent as ARMs and interest only mortages reset to higher interest rates. A large number of people took on the mortgages based on min payments only and have no contingency for upsides of payment or propery taxes.

Wave 2 will be in 2007 when majority of toxic mortgages reset.

If I was the Democrat equivalent of Karl Rove, I would try to loose this one. The next 2 years will be interesting.

Utter nonsense.

Good thing you're only blogging. Blog... Blog... Rightwing... Blog...

It's not so much that they'll get the blame for this (although if it is discovered that they knew about it and held it until October....) It is the utter hypocrisy of this party which defended Bill Clinton, pardoned Mel Reynolds and applauded Rep. Studds for far worse vile behavior. If they want to capitalize on this, they should be quiet and unseen. Already, however, Pelosi and Reid are running around almost gleefully over something that most Americans consider disgusting.

Mr. Webb-
You provide an interesting angle but I doubt if it sticks. Though I do not support either the Democrats or Republicans 100%, a scandal like this does hurt the image of Republicans more than Democrats. You should understand this. Now, is this sex texting of pages (boys) going to change elections ... "hell no." This Senator (or Rep. I don't know) Foley isn't that important. Many of us probably didn't know who the heck was. What hurts the Republicans is that this isn't a good example of family values. And, regardless of whether it is wrong or right, people tend to forgive 2 consenting adults (mostly men with women but societies becoming more open) then an adult with young people/teens. Trust me, I really do not want the Democrat minority leader to become speaker of the house (give me mostly any other women with moderate to conservative values not a possible extremist). Now, if Harod Ford, Jr., was minority leader (good ol semi-moderate Southern Democrat) then I'd be celebrating Foley's misstep. I for one want some form of gridlock on capital hill accept when it comes to judicial and administrative appointments. They spend less when nothing gets done (so I think). So, long story short, it doesn't matter other than within in state or those adjacent to his. Acommon(Independent Rob J> Chicago)

I´m afraid you may be right. The Republicans deserve to lose both houses this election, but you can´t count on the democrats to get it together to make it happen. I suspect things will remain largely the same after November.

Fox news, accused (I believe rightly) of being biased towards the republicans on multiple occasions labeled Foley as a democrat. Text reads "D-FL" under video footage of Foley while they make no mention of his affiliation and never acknoledged this as a mistake. Additionally they have asked the question "Did dems cover up Foley scandle" as if he were a democrat.

What you speak of is already in progress - Fox News Channel, which is a conservative media outlet, identified Mark Foley as a Democrat several times on screen.

Quite frankly, most viewers at home weren't savvy enough to discern the difference. To them, gay and/or sex scandal = Democrat, anyway.

Not making hay out of this scandal is one thing. Being tarnished by it is another. How are democrats supposed to take the blame for something they had absolutely nothing to do with? I don't understand the logic of this blog entry.

Unfortunately, I agree. I've been waiting for a Democratic candidate to come along whose best argument wasn't that they were the lesser of two evils. On the plus side, I'm glad to see Harold Ford, Jr. in my home state of Tennessee actually taking a strong stance in the upcoming Senate election. I don't agree with all of his policies but at least he's not being the typical Democratic shrinking violet.

'Solving' the problems of the world with an American friend in Bangkok yesterday, we both concluded that whatever the benefits to the Democrats in terms of PR, that this affair brings, it will mean little in terms of who controls the levers of power. With the polarisation of the U.S. vote, it only takes winning the crucial swing states for the Republicans to maintain their grip on power. If you examine the Florida and Ohio siting of electronic voting machines, you will find them in the most critical areas. And most people understand only too well, that even basic programming can bring about the result you want. I have no doubt that a 'close' race will be engineered but the battle for control of America has already been fought and won. Despite being the most hapless and corrupt leadership in U.S. history, George and his immoral band of corporate-controlled, empire-building, homicidal maniacs will continue to give us more of the same. War, genocide, hypocrisy, insecurity and double standards, while telling us how much safer we are under their watch.

What is wrong with the American people? Are their minds so empty and bellies so full that they cannot see what is obvious to the rest of us?

Only a landslide is likely to return the Democrats to the White House. Wouldn't it be deliciously ironic to see them returned on the back of the same 'moral' backlash so cynically manipulated by the Republicans.

Enjoyed your article and you may be right - go to www.drudgereport.com He has some interesting things to say re the latest scandal. Democrats should hope and pray the Republicans don't dig up their scandal sheet....

Perhaps. But I don't think it will even take a Karl Rover master-stroke or a Democrat-implosion: if moral outrage at sex-related misdemeanours somehow remains centre-stage, many Americans will recall the conduct of the last Democratic national leader - i.e. President Clinton - rather than that of a barely-known Florida Congressman. I began with perhaps because, certainly more than back in the UK, mid-term elections are just that: elections (plural). Races here in Arizona, dominated by the illegal immigration issue, will reflect Arizonan sentiments on that and other state issues, not either perceived Republican arrogance and inertia, nor perceived Democratic hyper-liberalism, nationally.

So ... Maybe it wasn't an accident when Fox News "mistakenly" identified Foley as a Democrat.

LOL!
You also failed to blame Bill Clinton himself. You only get a D-.

I fear this may indeed be correct -- the Republicans have an uncanny ability to retain support following scandals such as this.

I've already heard the drumbeat. The Speaker is blaming it on Bill CLinton, and the Conservative Pundits are talking about 20 year old cases just to show that the Democrats have gays too. Of course some of the Conservatives are not necessarily winning friends by saying that all Hastert needed to know was that Foley was gay to know he was a predator. And now it appears they are making ready to attack the boys' veracity, though I am sure they will have some swift page veterans to do it for them. Nixon's tactics never seem to go out of style.

It's easy for this to go bad for the democrats... The Daily Show just showed a real clip of Fox News calling Foley a Democrat not a Republican.

The Foley affir will be quickly forgotten when we attack Iran in about three weeks. It is classic Rovian; the naval battle groups and additional support ships are on the way and will be in the Gulf by Oct 22.The Bush crowd will quickly condemn the cut-and-run Democrats for treasonous whinings and hope that he will get a large vote from the guillible but patriotic citizens. If we lose a number of ships and men which is already forcast, it will be a better pretext to do even bigger damage to Iran. Wait and see.

On the mark.

One should not underestimate the ability of the American public to be deceived as has been demonstrated over the last 6 eyars.

Wow! How original! Kicking Democrats while we're down! Finding some self-loathing clod from the Clinton White House to give a courageous anonymous quotation about how inept the party is that caused him to have a job for eight years! Such know-it-alls are so rare here, how on earth did you come up with one?

Here's the reality: George W. Bush is bankrupting the richest nation in the world just like he did all the companies he was given to play with because he is his father's son. This time, there's no one big enough to bail him out. And since he's fanning the flames of my countrymen's worst impulses, he's wrecking havoc and squandering lives and resources across the planet. That giant sucking sound you hear is the whirlpool across the pond.

Quite honestly, I would admit that we Democrats are not the most appealing bunch. Were he alive today, Churchill might have noted that the Democratic Party is the worst political party there is except for the other one.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. Cheers.

Rubbish.

With this scandal,I have already decided to vote for democrats because the war in Iraq was making me lean close to the democrats so this is definately the last straw.

No truer words have been spoken! The Democrats are vigorously trying to play the Foley fiasco for all it's worth and then some. A good, plausible idea hasn't taken root in the Democratic Party for years. Their party platform consists of two things: 1) We hate Bush and 2) We'll say and do anything to make the Republicans look bad.

These overarching messages hardly inspire confidence in centrist American voters that the Democrats will properly reform government or protect them. They've lost the middle of the political spectrum and just keep singing to their already charmed choir. The Republicans have done a rather poor job recently. The only thing for certain is the Democrats will do an even worse job.

Justin,

Sounds like you're disappointed that the Democrats might not win control of both houses of Congress.

Why don't you use facts to back up your opinion?

Politics doesn't exist in a bubble. For every tactic hatched by Karl Rove there's a response by the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer and Bill Clinton. And then vice-versa.

Voters make decisions on what both parties say.

Plus, the Congressional races are fought district by district. There are many local issues at play. Water supply might be important in the West but Medicaid funding is more important in the liberal Northeast.

Don't assume that one scandal affects the entire nation's outcome.

Maybe voters are turned off by Democrats who are trying to nationalise an issue that most Americans don't care about.

The Senate races deal with national issues but Democrats are afraid to talk about how they'll take on Islamic terrorists. Voters are trusting Republicans more because they don't want the USA to turn into Europe - afraid of it's own shadow and taking orders from anti-Western elements in its midst.

So let me get this straight: the Republicans are caught red-handed violating their own oft-trumpeted "family values".
Therefore, if the Democrats don't "win big" on the back of it, they are guilty of... well Justin doesn't say exactly what, but it's going to be their fault anyway.
What absolute nonsense. If the Democrats don't "win big" it will be because of ridiculous "analysis" like this obfuscating the issue. This issue is important because of its real life impact on real people and real policy. Not because of some abstract assessment of electoral numbers.

You are missing the big picture. This election is not about the democrats winning big. It is about the disgrace the republicans have heaped upon themselves. Remember - family values, good on winning wars, small government, etc. What does the Republican Party stands for now? Even Republican sympathizers like you will agree that the party is over.

"Force of arguments"? "Attractiveness of policies"? Since when have these decided national elections in the US? I agree that the Democrats may screw these next elections up, but one must never forget that it is pure marketing that determines the outcome of elections here, not actual discourse about "policy".

So far, we have Ms. Rice's CIA fiasco, the sex scandal that has so far implicated many in the upper ranks of the Republican party, a sordid tale of cash-for-laws, the strong implication of Rove ordering the Plame leak, a disasterous showing in two wars (with strong hints that both Iran and North Korea are being considered for attack), the secret CIA jails, the illegal wiretaps, some strong implications of electorial malpractice (regardless of whether it stole anything or not), and the illegal use of churches to campaign for favoured Republican candidates.

The impact? Bush's popularity is low, but it has actually been rising through the more recent revelations. There is no indication whatsoever that the Republicans will abstain from voting, and because of redistricting, that will be the only way Democrats can win in many areas. If anyone is likely to abstain, it is Democrat voters. All they have to vote for is dislike of the Republicans, and as many Democrats have been voting with the Republicans, who is there for the voters to like?

There is another factor. Voting in America is statistical. Only a certain percentage of votes are counted, the rest is extrapolated. That's why the recounts are usually so different from the original tallies.

The problem is, in the past few elections, seats have been won or lost over differences close to a thousandth of a percent. It gets worse. Statistics gets less accurate the less data you have, and not only is the percent of votes counted small, but so is the number who vote in the first place.

Aside from the fact that this makes cheating a cinch, it also means that elections can take months - potentially years - to resolve. In Washington State's election for Governor, they kept finding more and more votes that were misplaced - probably not deliberately, more likely because there's no point in tracking small bits of paper that nobody will ever see. After the first ten percent or so has been counted, the rest are usually just wasted space.

(This goes back to why turnouts are so abysmally low as to not reflect the population anyway. Why spend all that time and have your vote ignored anyway?)

Yes, computerized voting machines were supposed to fix that and ensure reliability and integrity. There is also a guide on the Internet for installing a chess game on a voting machine while voting. *Confidence not included.

Unfortunatly, I believe you may be right. In fact George Bush is hard at work equating the Democrats with terrorists sympathizers which a substantial portion of the population is buying into. It is never as good as it seems, and the Democrats have not produced anything other than Bill Clinton interview. Incidentally, Clinton is not running for office, although he is likely to win over any other Democrat.

I suppose we just have to see what happens.

If the Democrats make Foley into a tabloid campaign they could very well lose again. There are many more serious issues with the current administration than going after the Foley scandal.

The Dems always seem capable of finding a Howard Dean or Michael Moore to derail them

I will be voting mostly D this time and 08 as in principle its time for a change.

THis article should have been attributed: Justin Webb, Republican spokesperson, North America.

How much longer can the BBC claim to offer inbiased reporting when it publishes this kind of biaised thinking.

As an "Amurican" political junkie I found the comment insightful and the photo with former attorney general John Ashcroft in the background amusing. The real story is about the corruption of power not about a political party. Both our countries have long histories of people in power abusing their positions.

Right you are Mr. Webb! Rove has learned his lesson well and damage control here is simple: Hammering at the Republicans about Foley looks bad for the democrats, who can then be accused of anything from hitting a man when he is down, gay-bashing, sour grapes for two years of Lewinsky, fighting a non-issue, etc.

Meanwhile, the fact that the writ of Habeas Corpus has been repealed by the Military Commissions Act, that the country's economy has slowed, that Iraq is a mess, etc. falls below the voter's radar.

Remarkable, if there were a "Josef Goebbels Award," I think Karl Rove would have won it several times over. When you are killing a democracy, that is the kind of person you want in your camp.

The republicans will win the same way they won in 2000 and 2004. By voter fraud. Facts by recounts have verified that, after the fact, in both elections. Yet the Democrats are hammered for loosing when they won both elections. "W" is a fraud.
The press doesn't bother to verify the truth. How could they not know?

Phil

Right, I think I see your logic:

Democratic sex scandal: Republicans win
Republican sex scandal: Republicans win

The far greater scandal here is Jay Leno's flagrant plagiarism. His quip is a theft of a line from Monty Python's Flying Circus: "This is the greatest miscarriage of justice in Britain since Tuesday." Leno's blatant act of cribbing could easily swing the election a different way.

The US provides a permanent home for scandals and they have little impact on outcome of elections. What great harm did the Clinton sex scandal do to the Democrats? Is the man not still riding high in public opinion and attempting to rule from outide the White House? Is his wife not striving to rule America. When they di they or the Democrats pay the 'sin'?

Contrary to pro-Democrats' view, the American mainlinee press is fanatically pro-Democrats and never Republican. I hope that if the public will for once actually punish the Republicans for harbouring in their midst someone so vile in character they will henceforth punish the Democrats who have in their fold people with disparate morals tastes abd orientations.

Hastert already said he took responsibility but then went on and accused the Democrats of using the scandal for political ends. Now you're saying they haven't got the political savy to do so. So that must mean they can't hurt themselves...?

The Democrats will fail to regain the House, because as usual they lack the political will of Rove and his myrmidons. The most dangerous man in politics is the true believer and these Republicans will literally stop at nothing. There is no depth to which they will not stoop, no trick too dirty for them. It is the return of "The end justifies the means" rhetoric. Who can beat that?

#53 is correct about journalistic bias in the US. According to the Washington Post, about 85% of journalists are staunchly Democrat voters, about 10% are neutral and 5% are Republicans.

Justin Webb is right about his conclusion that democrats are likely to self-destruct. Thats only because a shocking number of Americans don't know 'head from tail' and are hypocritical. they still dont accept evolution but want to enjoy the benefits from the science of evolution in medicine and just about everything else. Similarly they scream about embryonic stem cell research but would be eager to benefit from the science especially when their health or life is seriously threatened. their beliefs dont apply to themselves when in serious difficulty. at least the Amish practise what they believe in. this along with the voter fraud which is mentioned in many posts here is the reason why democrats may find it impossible to reclaim power without a grassroots civil resistance/disobedience by democrat party members and supporters and education campaign for everyone. that makes it a medium to long term task.

In response to the author of this article: Rove doesn't have mystical powers, okay? And when a sex scandal hits the GOP, to assume that it's going to end up hurting the opposing party is rather idiotic. It suggests the depths to which you yourself have been spinwashed.

In response to comments 53 and 56: there is no liberal bias in the American media, okay? There is in fact a conservative/Republican bias. Sorry to burst your bubble but there it is. Consider this article a case in point. Granted, it's the BBC but the author sounds like he's been here too long.

Mr.Webb, I'm truly amazed to learn that even an idiot of your spectacular size is allowed to write for the BBC. Journalistic lunacy is a very deep lurid well lacking any bottom or sense of decency at all.

I have never read anything more imbalanced and absurd as your lines. I hope these are the last lines you are allowed to write wasting taxpayers money and we'll have soon the pleasure of reding your "amazing" articles on the pages of some Republican funded newspaper instead.

Dear Mr Webb,

Much as I normally enjoy your contributions, this one suggested a tad too much Tequila :)

The Democrats were, prior to the campaign, concerned about winning *maybe* a narrow majority in the House, and making gains, but remaining the Minority Party in the Senate.

The growing sense of unease about Iraq changed the picture in the House and a little in the Senate.

What you miss is the ability of the GOP to get out it's core vote, prompted by both the mainstream media and, particularly, the Religious Right.

Foley and the cover-up changes that. The issue strikes so deep at conservative family values, that the result could easily be that large parts of the GOP vote simply stays at home, they will not vote Democrat. Staying at home suddenly makes many more seats winnable.

I think it would benefit your analysis if you got out of Washington for a bit, and went and talked to all the voices you are not hearing. You are an intelligent journolist, so go investigate and quit swallowing the mainstream stuff wholesale.

You could well be right. Who knows? The White House propaganda machine regularly and effectively turns the sky green for the vast majority of Americans who pay no attention to the news. As our country spirals down from the lofty perch of superpower, the only consolation is knowing that whatever country writes the history books in the future, the truth is quite clear to anyone not subjected to spin or anyone who can read.

Coverups; leaks; corruption; lies;colusion; bribery, etc., etc., and now sexual impropriety with minors and an apparent coverup. This is the party that vowed to restore morality to Government after the Monica Lewinsky affair. At least Monica was an adult.
Frank J. vargas, Jr.

Sure why shouldnt the republicans benefit from this. They are spending us to debt in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving us to ruin, whats one more scandal? Everything they claim to be for they are actually against-- keeping the government out of our business-- (assualting the bill of rights) fiscal responsibility (creating the biggest debt in history), and moral correctness (overlooking sexual harrasment of 16 year old boys, etc. etc. etc). Most Americans are sick of it. Enough already!

This entire discussion emphasizes how the major US political parties have become pathetic, negative and defensive. The mainstream news media is enabling the destruction of our country, focussing on tawdry issues which distract attention from more important issues such as global warming, illegal immigation, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and the war in Iraq which affect everyone, not just Americans.

If America wants to be a world leader, it needs to set a better example. All this stuff will pass. None of it matters in the long run.

What does matter is that there is no real difference between the political parties. The few people with brains don't have viable choices. Our governmment and the Congress have proven themselves corrupt, immoral and incompetent.

America has been bought and paid for by special interest groups who cater to the lowest common denominator of humanity. The common people, with few exceptions, have become too stupid to govern themselves. Unless they wake up, throw the incumbents out, and elect officials which represent the will of the people, rather than the elite manuipulators, the future of the republic is doomed.

I thought Brits were supposed to be the ones that understood irony.

The Dems have done a poor job of articulating an alternative vision for America, but so what? At this point, it's easier (and safer) to let the GOP commit political hari-kari than try out potentially embarassing new policy initiatives.

Mr Bush's Repulican government does whatever it feels like. The democrats can't screw themselves because the republicans lie so much and our naive society just accepts everything they say. You really can't put the blame on anybody except the idiotic society who put these fools back in office and refuses to acknowledge any of the lies corruption and illegal activities our administration has been involved in. The blame ultimately rests in the society that allows these corrupt politicians to run unchecked and do whatever they want. When will it end?

Wow, you really don't know much about American politics, do you? So why are you writing about it? "If they fail to deliver they surely go up in flames - this view confirmed to me a few minutes ago in a conversation with a former staffer in the Clinton White House..." - what meaningless drivel. "Go up in flames", what on Earth does that mean? Just so you know, because it appears that you don't, a majority of Americans favor the Democratic position on: the environment, the Iraq war, abortion, privacy rights, increased regulation of corporations, etc. We do, however, have a right-wing controlled media and very poor critical thinking skills overall as a nation. This scandal is not "a trap for Democrats" it is a disgusting display of rank hypocrisy, abuse of power and reveals at the same time what an empty shell the Republicans' talk of moral superiority and religious faith really is.

The Democrats will not be able to regain control of either house, because elections here are RIGGED. Mark my words: Democrats will go into Election Day with huge leads in the polls that will "magically" disappear when voting actually happens. The Republicans will chalk it up to the press having a liberal bias, and the press will play dumb as if their poll numbers and prediction formulas are wrong, even though they have worked near-flawlessly for decades. Meanwhile, the Democrats will roll over and act as if the election was free and fair and voters really didn't want them.

And even in the face of vast evidence of voter fraud and suppression, those of us who voice this opinion will be labelled as conspiracy theorists, ultra-liberals, or just plain nuts.

It happened in 2000 with everyone watching.
It happened in 2002, and the Republicans claimed that the Democratic Party was history.
It happened in 2004, and when people tried to fight it in courts, they were not suppressed.

It will happen again in 2006 and 2008.

Balderdash, Rot, and Poppycock

The peculiar assertion by Justin Webb that the Democrats will somehow be blamed for the reputed actions of the Republican Congressman Foley is lacking in any factual basis. This piece is so poorly written it even fails to identify Congressman Foley as the subject, nor does it mention the allegations and evidence pertaining to the issue.

This blog entry is neither news reporting nor news analysis; it is blatant propaganda, pro-Republican pandering and "spin". Such a preposterous assertion would require more proof than the off-topic quote from a conveniently unnamed and therefore unverifiable "former staffer in the Clinton White House".

Justin Webb's reporting is a disgrace to the BBC and to all journalists everywhere and he should resign, or be made redundant immediately.

It is, however, neither the alleged actions of one individual congressman nor of one partisan, biased reporter which will be determinative of the races in other contested Congressional districts. Rather, it will be the fact that the US is bogged down in a war it is losing (Afghanistan) and a war which is already lost (Iraq), coupled with the ongoing assault on the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions and the rolling collapse of the economy and de-industrialization of the US which will drive the American people to vote Democratic this November.

HENRY EDWARD HARDY
Ann Arbor, MI

It certainly seems like Mark Foley is a democrat.

It's Autumn and the liberals are throwing rocks. One of these days they will realize we "all" live in glass houses these days and should work things out instead of always accusing and pointing fingers.

People vote for the person they feel most comfortable with. That choice is made at the local level. If a Republican politician delivered for the people that they represent then they will most likely be re-elected.

As for the sex scandal, the media plays a big role in how this is viewed. If people like Mr. Webb insist on linking the sex scandal to the Democrats then the view that people have of the Democrats will be a distorted view, and they may suffer some for it.

Reporters should present the readers with facts, not speculation,

Justin's "prophetic words" are so superficial as to be laughable.

The single biggest challenge the Democrats face in the upcoming mid-term elections and in 2008 is spelled DIEBOLD! Electronic voting system owned,operated, maintained by a Republican hack. No paper trail, easily rigged and tampered with. Totally unreliable.

Justin, If you believe the Republicans won, fair and square, the 2004 presidential election, do some reading about the irregularities in Ohio and Florida.

Has anyone else noticed the remarkable similarities between this piece and a very similar Salon article

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/10/04/foley/index.html

I'm sure it's just a question of great minds thinking alike rather than anything untoward.

Dear Mr. Webb,
I am sorry to say that I think you are correct, the GOP has sent out the Dem basher of them all, the Newt. Newt Gingrich is out telling everybody through the right-wing held media that this is a conspiracy by the Democrats to take the election. As in the past, the good people of the USA will fall for it. The painful fact is that we cannot keep up with the GOP spin machine. I mean, what happened to the downing street memo? we already forgot!!!! I really think that the GOP releases bad info about itself to cover up the last bad info, so we go from scandal to scandal to scandal, so fast that we cannot hold them accountable for any single event. Is there a terror alert coming?? They are very rare since the last elections. And, one last point: Gas(Petroleum) prices in the US has fallen nearly a dollar (roughly 30%). the price of a barrel of oil has fallen to 60 dollars a barrel from 78 in july (less that 25%). The group of people who are keeping the Dems out are far more numerous than anyone realizes.

thanks.

Of course this whole morass will come back to haunt the Democrats - doesn't everything? But seriously, this appears on the surface, to effect a splitting of the Republicans from their anti-gay base. Ultimately when the smoke clears, I don't think you will find a concerted Republican effort to protect a gay congressman. I do see little sympathy for this troubled individual from either party, and the long-term alienation of the Democratic base resulting from this will likely be more profound.

As hard as I find it to believe that this current "scandal" could not be in the Democrats favor, the Republican constituency is often blinded by their supposed faith and seem to have a short term memory problems when it comes to election time. Not to mention the fact that more and more people are losing faith in the whole electoral process. Are voters going to remember that Tom Delay was involved in outright fraud by manipulating congressional districts in Texas to ensure Republican victory? Another issue that has been pointed out in many of these comments is many American's blind faith in the media. Imagine relying solely on Fox news for your source of information. Many in the US found it hard to believe that Bush won by the margin he did in 2004. Will we be surprise again this November?

Anyone on this comment board who makes it seem like the Democrats are bashing the Republicans just for political purposes is just downright dumb. The Republicans use every single cent of their interest on the billions stolen from innocent people to fund their propaganda campaigns of lies against the Democrats. At least the Dems use this issue as a just rallying call against moralizing Repubs who attack anyone who doesnt fit into their camp as being facists, traitors and anti-American. The ensuing war the Republicans will be waging on Dems will be beyond anything we have ever seen. Who has been making all the money since 911? Republican oil and arms barons. This is a just issue to be outed and the Republicans deserve all they get as they stand (sinking ) on their moral high ground.

A Republican congressman sends salacious text-messages to various male pages (all under the age of 18)over a period of several years. At least one page complains to his parents, who then inform their congressman. Nothing is done. The Speaker of the House, the House Majority Leader and at least the head of the Republican Congressional Caucus are informed (at the least several months ago). Nothing was done.
That is the scandal. Nothing was done.
No Democrat was involved. No Democrat was informed about Foley's actions.
However, because a former Clinton White House staffer says that the Democrats have been known to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory before, they are going to do it again?
Adding this scandal to the scandals of Iraq, the economy, and Abramof and Co., just to mention the top three, makes it very hard to read Mr. Webb's entry without wondering if he has more information than he has shared with us? If not, then the BBC might want to find out what he's been doing, because he certainly hasn't been doing his job.

Republicans are not a "party". The GOP is not a "party". The GOP is a mafia-like cartel of corporate and military-industrial thugs, a syndicate of ultra-wealthy war profiteers bent on imposing a fascist corporatocracy in America using every possible illegal deception, including rigged voting machines and election fraud. No surprise when Republican operatives are exposed as felons. Or that their media plants continue to mouth their propaganda. Tyrants, as Ghandi said, eventually fall. Always. Think of it! As for the Democrats, this is for them the ultimate time of testing. Let them show who they are by their works. The people will judge them as well.

Justin is not too far off. With media like fox, and a lot of dumb citizens, who knows how things would turn out. After all, during one of their coverages of the scandal, Fox got away with introducing Foley as a Democrat! If we can't get the facts right, change the facts. That's how the government has been operating, and their media contractors followed their footsteps. I do not know how a civilized nation could sit back and watch this unfold. Presidents/governments have been forced to resign for far less than that. The next disaster is our fault. We have been warned.

It seems to me that most contributors to this discussion are American. Perhaps it's best remembered that Justin Webb is reporting mainly for the benefit of Brits interested in US politics - I, too, have been getting excited by this latest fiaso (much less sordid, in fact, than the hapless Oscar Wilde's chasing after boys) because it might bash the Republicans...and we need to be calmed down to the fact that the Republicans might still win - like 2004.

At 03:46 AM on 06 Oct 2006, John lied:

"I would hasten to add that if the Democrat do get the blame for this, it's because they're the ones who got hold of the information and leaked it to their pals at ABC News, who waited until October to break the "story.""

Lie. This information was passed to ABC News by a GOP operative: http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/100506/news2.html

"Also, I'm sure you know; but neglected to mention to your readers, this whole story is now blowing up because the young man at issue was over the age of male consent at the time these messages were exchanged and, oh, by the way, the boy is not gay and he and his friends were merely spoofing the Congressman."

Lie. You've been reading GOP shill Drudge. Who lied:
http://www.newsok.com/article/2951710

Not to mention the fact that three other former pages have now come forward.

Why are the Republicans and their supporters going to be disappointed in the forthcoming elections? Because sane people are disgusted by their attempts to cover up for the activities of a pedophile.

I'd say "nice try", but your cut-and-pasted set of desperation-borne talking points doesn't even qualify for that faint praise.

More to the point is where are the Democratic parties policies apart from the never ending "I hate Bush".

How does a party expect to win elections without policies? What are the voters voting for?

The Dems are in complete disarray and their anti, anti, anti policies and flip flopping all over the place aren't policies but pure whingeing.

The Foley Scandal "October Surprise" was set to keep Republicans home on election day. Dems cant win seats competing on ideas, so they are attacking the conservative voter turn out machine. A very smart move.....but also an admission that they cant win any other way.

In response to # At 01:39 AM on 06 Oct 2006, George Banks

If the democrats win then the election then would be confirm that the election was rigged, the culprit will be the democrats supporting the flawed Diebold e-voting machines.

In response to # At 08:52 AM on 06 Oct 2006, Phil Mink

It has been the Democrats who have been pushing hard for the defected electronic e-voting machines and set against having any paper trials to allow recounts.

In response to # At 03:21 PM on 06 Oct 2006, Al Light

The Democrats have been trying to rig the election for a long time.

Right now the Democrats are pushing hard to keep Diebold e-Voting machine in some states even though it has been proven to be insecure. An it a Republican governor leading the charge force Diebold to have a paper trail or scrap the machine and go back to paper voting allow recounts and to keep elections free and clear. The Democrat State Senate President and House Speaker oppose paper trail or scrapping the machines.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060921/020114.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001356_pf.html
http://itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/

In response to # At 05:32 AM on 06 Oct 2006, Russ
Clinton is the one who really put us in this mess. Stating that we has surplus, yet our deficit was still growing. Also it was the Democrats who put most of the military retirement funds in Enron. One thing is he was a great speaker.

What I don't understand is the blind party protectionism. Democrats and Republican politicians share one important trait. They're POLITICIANS. Hence, it is silly to point fingers because corruption is part of Washington. It's how things get done. Don't be so quick to villify a blogger who says that Dems are not gonna take advantage. They're not. The Repubs are better at the game of "You be the Jerk".

Iraq, no Bin Laden, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Mission Accomplished, Valerie Plame, Katrina, Torture as US Policy, invasion of privacy, Cheney as marksman, Tax cuts, doublespeak and blatant lies... and the Dems STILL can't garner enough support for a mandate.

What people SHOULD be bitching about is the fact that the millions of Americans in 50 different states are represented by 2 count them, 2 parties. Does this seem ridiculous or what? How can we NOT be a polarized nation when we only have two poles? Duhhhhh.

Mr. Webb, I normally disagree with your views on American politics but this time we're on the same page (no pun intended--especially after reading some of the moonbattery this post has aroused!).

I do think that the Dems have (as usual) overplayed their hand. How hypocritical of them to begin making lectures on public morality. Gerry Studds and Barney Frank come to mind --just after Bill Clinton. His meltdown with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday was probably pre-planned but it got out of control, especially since it highlighted his lack of truthfulness one more time. Democrats just don't resign over stuff like this, though I'm glad Foley did.

No, I think this series of "October surprises" will come back to bite the Dems.

Congratulations Webb, you've produced an entertaining little thread with little to no reporting effort. Rest assured that your thoughts have been registered and your name has been taken. When the Dems stroll into power in November, your visa will be withdrawn and your name will be stricken. Cheers lad!

As Jon Stewart would say - "Who the BLEEP are you?"

All previous comments from Americans vividly demonstrate how unsophisticated they are about politics and know little about their own county, specially what really an American cares about.

I doubt that the Democrats are worried about what dirt the Republicans are digging up on them. American politics has been all about dirt for years, the Lewinsky scandal only being the most desperate example.

We didn't need to have phoney National Guard memos to tell us that while Kerry got wounded in Vietnam, Bush was avoided duty in that country, choosing instead to keep the skies of the southern US safe from the Viet Cong. That "scandal" worked to nobody's advantage but the Republicans, keeping Bush's Vietnam record out of the spotlight.

If the 6 or 7 corporations which operate 80% of American media favored the Democrats, you might think that that party would hold at least one of the houses of Congress instead of watching their fortunes decline.

I am an American. I have watched politics for many years. This is how the Democrats are going too lose. The media will hype the Democrats huge victory gains in November. The majority of Democrats are low wage uneducated lazy voters. they simply wont show up becuase they think it is won. If I was a British citizen I would worry about America. I would worry about the Low birth rate in the UK. Anyone for a Birka.

There is one key ingrediant you overlooked. The 'moral outrage' currently pumped by the democrats comes off as severely hypocritical! There was no admonition by the Dems when Barney Frank was caught running a prositution ring from his DC townhouse and none for Studs when he was convicted of statutory rape. Pres. Clinton even pardoned him! The hypocracy is what will kill the dems in the end.

I believe in cheeseburgers! I don't agree with long white shirts. And I think, be it Democrat or Republican, revolution is long overdue.

I am a "conservative" voter and really don't care one bit about the sex scandal. This is all just pure entertainment and won't really effect the election outcome by much.

It is actually rather amusing to see all the outrage about the "instant messaging". Especially since no democrat wants to speak out against gay sex, yet that is the very issue that repels most Americans. They won't even speak out against gay sex with minors.

What about the innocent young girls who were murdered in their schoolhouse. Why isn't that the big news. I guess the slaughter of innocents doesn't sound too worrisome to the Democratic leadership. Oh I forgot, those girls weren't gay or black or Islamic - no news there.

Anyway, the bottom line is the Democratic party represents social failures who can not take care of themselves and the Republican party represents successful, self-reliant people.
Who do you want running the country?

I dont know what the majority of you are complaining about Republicans have control because they stand for what the American people stand for not because of fraud though in all fairness each party has its own agenda Dems=Special Interests and the GOP=Big Business

Since when does the BBC have imbedded FOX reporters posting Rovian "news" on its website?

Utterly disappointing, BBC.

It seems Mr. Webb is all too quick to scuffle up to the GOP band-wagon crush-all machine and start pointing fingers at the Democrats. No reason, yet, but just you wait... there'll be one for sure!

The basic, sickening fact that Foley has had a long-time habit of severely inappropriate behaviour with minors --and that several GOP members knew of this fact and did nothing-- seems to have "slipped" Mr. Webb's mind.

Smear campaigns and political trashing machines can do plenty of damage. And thanks to the media, we're being fed an ever-increasing helping of bland nutrionless bunk and an overflowing serving of crap. (Like Webb's "prophecy").

But don't underestimate the revulsion of the American public. A scandal of this nature does not get lost so easily.

Rove can spin his Webb all he wants, but nasty spiders have a habit of simply being crushed.

(If you want to truly get on top of this story and its impending smear campaign, start ripping apart the corruption of America's voting machine "businesses", and seriously look into all of the fraudulant votes from last election. At least then you'll have an informed and dramatic "before" and "after" story to tell the world.)

I agree with this gloomy prophecy. The Christian right who are the most important voter faction for the Republicans in recent years are marked, above all, by their emotionalism. They will respond to this by hysterical reflections on how much worse, and consistently worse, the party of the "homosexual, antifamily agenda", namely the Democrats, are than their beloved Republicans, and how the Democrats will "try to take advantage of this", and they will spring to the rescue. Remember how they behaved in the last election when it was proven that President Bush was a liar as well as a warmongerer.

Hrmmm. This could certainly become a double-edged sword, slicing both ways. If any Democrats are tarred by the developing investigations there'll be the very devil himself to pay.

However, one of the dirty secrets of American politics is that we don't vote *for*, we vote *against*. Kevin Phillips, Richard Nixon's chief demographic haruspex, pointed this out very succinctly to Garry Wills when he stated the whole secret of getting votes in America is "knowing who hates whom." In that light, it would currently seem easier for the broad masses to vote against Mark Foley / Dennis Hastert / the GOP in general than for them to swallow the bitter pill and vote for those that have manifestly lied to them and played upon their most deeply held (and most manipulable) values.

Dangerous times for the Dems, indeed. Karl Rove -- a most talented and energetic individual -- is still very much at the peak of his powers; allegedly having hinted at an "October Surprise" of his own to a German newsmagazine, albeit before Foleygate erupted. Who knows what form that might take, outside of those in the Oval Office? Iran? North Korea? Iraq? Something domestic? A good sonar can sense him down there, burrowing quietly toward his occult goal.

Utterly fascinating. On the public stage, the Republicans give every appearance of being set to disembowel themselves, while the Democrats finally seem to be rallying.

I just wish issues of actual global import were closer to center stage.

The Dems will lose in November, but it will have nothing to do w/ this scandal one way or the other - but rather, their lack of bringing anything positive to the table! And for those of you who think Fox News is too far to the right? Perhaps, but somebody has to offset the ever-liberal MSNBC, CNNs and ABCs of the world!

This is heaven sent for the Republicans. For once nobody is talking about Iraq or Bob Woodward's book! When is comes to priorities and degree of seriousness the American public has no clue.

I wish that we did not have to choose between Republicans and Democrats in November. The Republiucans are inept and phony and the Democrats timorous and PC, with no substantive ideas for change. The members of each party are foolish, lifeless, poll-mad, predictable, unimaginative, and just plain boring. Sex scandals in America always follow the same pattern: discovery, (feigned) outrage, then deep, rabid, morbid interest. We do sex and death so well in America, but can we try other topics for a few decades, please? Here's an idea: Let's elect the Amish to power. They practice actual forgiving Christianity and are simple and humble people. And they are anti-modern without being violently radical. Yes, let's put the Amish in Congress and the White House!

As an American citizen I would like to offer the BBC this advice:
The BBC would do well to replace Mr Webb with someone who, at a minimum, can demonstrate, at the very least, some small smattering of knowledge about America and American politics.
Best of Luck on that front.

I find it hard to beleive the Democrats can flub this one, but I have learned to take nothing for granted. Their presentation of policy choices in November is what I'm truly concerned about. The Democrats are so "democratic" they can not organize their party into any recognizable platform. Let the Republicans reap what they have sown, I would like to know what the alternatives to W's authoritarianism are.

Politicians have regularly lied to obtain votes. Granted, sex offenders are an easy target but at the same time playing on people fears to get re-elected is very wrong and dishonest. It makes me wonder... I'd rather have a sex offender as a neighbor than a politician! At least the SO's went through counseling!

Amazing. It's not just that this idiotic commment, unsourced (by anyone anyone else could check up on), depends completely upon currntly used GOP talking points. It's not just that this "reporter" doesn't mention that those talking points are in use, right now. It's not just that this is on BBC.

It's that this "commentary" was highlighted on the front page of the BBC today (10/6). That's power -- and it's power misused.

Who's paying for Justin's dinners in DC -- that's what I want to know.

Nice job, BBC.

How trite and childish most of the comments. Is there no one out there that understands the nature of politics?

I've a sneaking suspicion that the scheming troglodyte Rove is behind the timing of the release of this. I can't think of a better way to divert the electorate's attention from the real issues of the day - Iraq, the health care crisis - than by dishing up a salacious bit of foolishness that will not really hurt any Republican's chances for reelection. The timing - so close to the November elections - is just too perfect. And the focus - Foley and Hastert - is too convenient. They both acknowledge blame, leaving the Dems with nothing to hang their hats on. I predict history will show that Rove knew of the scandal and controlled the breaking of it to the news media to dilute the impact of the more compelling issue of the day, namely, the failure of this administration.

Predicting elections, in any nation, has become as silly and hapless as the talking heads on ESPN arm-chairing the upcoming "big-game". The Republicans will maintain, with smaller numbers, their majority in both houses of Congress. Not because the Democrats are good at losing or Karl Rove will rig the election, but due to the lack of a Democratic message. The Democratic Party has yet to offer a single tangible idea on any national issue other than to say..."They are wrong, pick us!"

There is no evidence that any elections were rigged. Problems that we saw in 2000 and on a much smaller scale in '04 are rather common place. They were magnified because everyone was looking for those problems, it injects drama into a rather boring event. As for sex with under age children, ABC has reported, and it has been picked up on every network, that the page was actually 18 at the time. Though that hardly excuses Mr. Foley's actions.

For those who are still hung on up on Florida 2000, consider the following. Every newspaper that recounted the votes found, without doubt, that Bush would still have won even if every Florida vote would have been recounted.

To those making posts saying that Mr. Webb doesn't know American politics when he says that the Democrats may suffer from this scandal, I say, where have you all been in the last 6 years? 1. Weapons of Mass Destruction 2. Karl Rove and Gordon Libby outing Valerie Plame 3. Tom Delay gerrymandering Texas electoral districts. I could go on... the current Republicans are one of the dirtiest in terms of corruption that I can remember. Whenever they are caught in the act they a)simply blame the Democrats, or the 'liberal media' and enough Americans suck it up that they continue to stay in power. Why should this scandal be any different than the others? In this case no actual harm was even done to someone - in Iraq over 100,000 people have died. If Americans can ignore that, they can ignore anything.

Foley is only a BAD gay because he's a republican. If he where a democrat they would defend his right to be gay and point to the horrors of his upbringing as a justification for his actions.

I agree with George Banks, comment number three. The elections are rigged. And I know this, not just because of an article I read in a legitimate magazine about Bush getting over 3,000 extra votes in one area that was caught (imagine how many others were not), but because I've spoken to a number of people accross the U.S. nation from various different cultural backgrounds in the past few years, and only one was a Bush supporter. He (Bush) does not represent the American public, so I can't imagine how he managed to win not one, but two elections in a row. A faulty voting process is the only reason Dems will loose if they do.

I've always loved how I have to go to either a news source outside of my own country to find out what's going on in my own country, but this is one case where domestic sources (not FOX)might have a better insight.

A large amount of political apathy in America is due to sensory overload. Do this, buy this, go here, this is what you want. Quite frankly, the sheer amount of superfluous crap I'm fed daily makes me want to focus only on those things I deem immediately relevant.

"Ohmygod, have you heard Britney's expecting again?"
"Brad and Angie are breaking up."
"Smoking's bad for you."
"We're 8.4529 trillion dollars in debt!"
"By the way, Crest makes your teeth whiter!"

Stop, just STOP.

This is why people don't care about Abramoff or DeLay. This is why many Americans vote on a single issue and something they can relate to- often their family or religion. With all the influx of stuff we're "supposed" to care about, we stop caring about everything but our immediate surroundings.

So many Americans are deemed ignorant because of this. Perhaps we are, but perhaps there's a causal relationship involved as well, much like our relationship with the automobile my European friends love to criticize me about.

I do know one thing, however. Americans might not care about financial scandal (unless it's their money), but like all people, we care about sex and protecting our young. The "family values" party may not be so family oriented after all.

One can only hope.

Talk about unbelieveable spin!!

This "article" epitomizes what is wrong with media today. It is like saying, "Fatal fall from top of building benefits man who slipped", or, "Decapitation can be good for you", or, "Jack The Ripper was actually a kind, loving person".

The incredibly dishonest, corporate MSM SUCKS!!

And that is a FACT--Not an opinion.

The democrats lost this election when the voting districts were redrawn by the republican majority after the 2000 census. This is why only a few number of races instead of all of them are even close. When the incubents get to choose their voters instead of the voters choosing them, our Republic has sadly been lost.

I have read some great replies to this story but I must say to John Smith sir I mean you no disrespect but you have no clue as to what you are talking about at all. I would say go watch Faux news or listen to Rush Limbaugh some more as you are just quoting their talking points. The Dems will not win in November I agree but it is only because the GOP will sell out their own country just to stay in power and if you can type an email then chances are you can rig a voting machine and we all know that the GOP is a party that has no problem lying or rigging elections.

I enjoyed this blog. Every time GW Bush or the GOP does something utterly scandalous and outrageous, I think: well, this time they've had it, for sure. But somehow every dirty deed becomes a nine-days-wonder, little or no lasting damage is done, and Houdini Bush slips out of the chains and carries on as if nothing had happened. It's Karl Rove, I'm sure. The man is a genius. An evil genius maybe, but a genius. I finally figured this out when John Kerry's Vietnam service was repackaged as a matter of shame. The recent "showdown with senior Republicans" over the interrogation legislation shows the same genius at work. An utterly shameful piece of work that overrides the most basic of human rights is miraculously reworked as the brave decision of a man preserving freedom and security, and even fighting his own guys to do it. Before the Democrats know what has hit them, people will be convinced that Mark Foley was hounded out of Congress by packs of predatory Democratic gay "pages" bent on corrupting decent family men, forging emails, etc. The best thing the Dems could do is forget about inventing policies and just hire Karl Rove.

Having just come from the NYTimes Reader's Opinions messageboard, there appears to be a concerted effort to cloud the Foley issue through blaming "liberals" (ie. Democrats) for leaking said disgusting story. I have no doubt that Karl Rove is thinking hard on how to blunt this blow to the Republicans' claim of so kind of moral superiority in all things political. I was devastated when Bush was really elected the 2nd time. However, I must keep faith that most people who ACTUALLY vote are eventually able to smell a rat. Remember the current context of the "Foley thing": 1)the hurricane Katrina fiasco, 2) the Jack Abramoff scandal; as well as the escalating carnage in Iraq, being well on the road to "losing" in Afghanistan and the recently released "National Intelligence Estimates" report. These seem to be people who are, at best, incompetant at running a powerful country despite their hubris.
I am Canadian, and live just across the border from the "excited States" and pay a lot of attention to their politics. I admit to being still at a loss to understand how the word liberal became the equivalent of a 4 letter word in the USA. Noam Chomsky could well be on the correct track!

Mr. Webb's view seems to have been faxed directly from Karl Rove. The inescapable fact is that for the past six years a single political party has held power over all branches of American government, actively subverting the Constitutional separation of powers, and abusing that power to enrich itself at the expense of the People at home–and abroad. Foley is a mere hangnail on the gangrenous corruption that is George the II's Washington.

Wow, As usual most people don't know how to form an opinion. they listen to one news source for information and then think they have a good idea about what is going on. Americans in general (and I am one), need to learn how to be less biased and more informed. But, and here's the rub, if more people actually cared about this country of ours things would change. The truth is...the Republicans and Democrats are very close to being the same party, the Democrats just waiting for the Republicans to fall so that they may take their place in line, accepting bribes and doing a hundred other things that does not make this nation great. But the capper to this is...WE ARE THEM..we are all so indoctrinated with a growing classist reality that we won't ever complain about our political situation if we think we can become a millionaire somehow and walk on the foreheads of others less fortunate. The author of this blog may be somewhat uninformed, but he's also taking advantage of most peoples misunderstanding of sarcasm. and he got just what he wanted...a ton of misinformed and indignant entries about nothing.

Representative Foley did the right thing in resigning when caught in a sex scandal, unlike President Clinton.

Foley should be investigated and, if he broke the law, prosecuted. But the Democrats are not the ones to be leading the charge. They, too, have a sex scandal in their recent history, so that for them to point fingers and utter condemnations is hypocritical.

If the Democrats do not sit back and let this play out, allowing the American people to draw their own conclusions, the result may be massive rejection of both parties and an increase of cynicism toward politicians as a group. This is not something the country needs just now.

I think that guy is right about snatching defeat from victory---remember the Paul Wellstone Memorial moment? Where the Dems should have honored his memory by having an actual, dignified memorial service and they turned it into a horrifying, beyond-tacky campaign event?? they really DON'T know where the line is.

Oh, and to the guy above who talks about "rigged" elections--come look into what happened with the democrat-run King County elections department in WA state, and you'll see what they did---it wasn't honest and they "found" enough votes and allowed thousands of voterless ballots in plus hundreds and hundreds of known illegal votes--- just enough to help the Democrat win the governor's race by 42 votes after the republican opponent was ahead after the first two counts. He will be back and WA voters are MAD as heck about the dems running King County Elections pulled, but the voters will make it harder for them to pull that stuff next time.

Whether Dems or Rups win, here a few interesting things. 1. Dems always lead in the polls as most Republicans are too busy working to bother with answering interview questions. They just wait until election day to voice. 2. How soon we forget that Bill Clinton with staff support had sex in white house with a page. But it was ok since she was of adult age. 3. Does the Dems bother to listen when it came out that the Foley's page in question was over 18 at the time of the alleged email messages. Not a child, not 16, but age of consent. 4. How can the US media be republican controlled since Hollywood and the Media elite donate 10 times more campaign money to the Dems then the Republicans.

Your commentary is without any point. As such, it is just more useless gossip and blathering that we are unfortunately left with in this media entertainment age. Your reasoning, that the Democrats will snatch defeat from victory because they always do, would be expected more from an adolescent than a supposed journalist.

I am an independent voter, and I vote across party lines regularly. The reasons why the Dems will not win as big as they should this fall are clear in many of these comments from Democratic supporters: total contempt for the electorate, the assumption that if someone disagrees with you he must be evil and/or stupid, and a very short and selective memory (Democrats? Sex scandals and vote rigging? Please.).

Somehow I have the impression that when the Republicans are in control, they take advantage of all the loopholes in the system and tries to extend the limits of corruption in the government.
And when Democrats are in control,they spend all their time trying to fix the loopholes and prevent the corruptions while fending their backs from pot shots from the Republicans.

Republican scandals are not limited to
federal. Many states have scandals involving Republicans.
South Dakota is one of them. Scandal
has been endemic for the last several
Republican administrations. And talk
about coverups!

The Democrats backed Bush on everything

that matters

The war

Getting rid of Habeous Corpus

What a lame party,

same for the Republicans,

Just watched the Abermoff Show on PBS by Moyers.

Can anyone really take any of these fools seriously. I have become cynical.

Would the Dems allow Fox to get away with that fraud? If they do, then they deserve to lose!

I really fail how to see how a scandal regarding Republican politicians is going to get blamed on the Democrats. Perhaps Rove woke up with an idea so wacky that it just has to work?

This Foley scandal has got to be the stupidest, mostly absurdly hilarious scandal I've ever seen. The irony & salaciousness of it all is great. What's not to enjoy seeing a middle aged man in a position of political power getting humiliated for inappropriate conversations with teenage boys.
More hilarity in the form of stupidity comes from all these people from a supposedly gay friendly party grasping at attack angles, effectively saying "oh, but he's Gay, he shouldn't be around teenage boys".
And the media circus that surrounds it... well, if that doesn't lay out in clear terms all that's wrong with the US media today, then at the least it serves as a reminder of all the other times they've put them on display.

Someone mentioned rigged elections becuase of electronic voting machines. I remember Democrats making quite an effort to get them because of the 2000 election. And now they have them. Solved one problem by making it worse. Great job Dems! (I kid)

Republicans are going to do poorly because they deserve to do poorly based on their performance. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view they won't do poorly enough in the election. Too bad there wasn't a decent 3rd party to vote for.

Stop all the nonsense. Just because one Republican has been exposed for sexual violations of a youth, certainly does not cast this same shadow on the entire party. Or is there a lot of selective memory loss out there (Clinton + a number of others before Mark Foley) This crap is just the fodder that makes the Dems have so much to say, when normally they have nothing to say insofar as when it comes to leading the country.

Foley is gone, now get to the bottom of it and move on.

I thought we in America were the only ones with GOP apologists. I didn't realize that Fox News had moles in the BBC. Doesn't surprise me, though. Perhaps a better background check would better serve the BBC in hiring UK "Republican" hacks.

I believe that most Americans want to believe that Democrats are immoral, so that when they do something wrong it matters, but most Republicans are moral, so when they do something wrong it doesn't really matter (compare Bill Clinton's treatment with Newt Gingrich's).

In addition they believe Republicans have conviction (we're going to win in Iraq), and they'd rather vote for someone with conviction.

Lastly, voting for Democrats implicitly means admitting that we've lost the war in Iraq, and most Americans, like Republicans, like to believe we don't lose wars.

These obsessions, just like our conviction that transferring all manufacturing to China and running up astronomical deficits don't matter, will surely lead to very bad consequences for us

post 70 takes the words out of my mouth.

I don't agree entirely with the bloggers sentiments. I agree that dems will have a difficult time regaining congressional seats, but I think it will be due in large part to the heavily gerrymandered districts. A striking proportion of American voters are dogmatic about their party affiliations and will vote consistently along those lines. Politicians are aware of this and voting districts have been redrawn throughout history to maintain power with the majority party. Currently there are only enough contested seats to swing the house but probably not the senate. So, yes, the best the dems can hope for is that congress will be split between the parties (which will seem like a victory for the GOP considering the record). I don't think this reflects the democrats actual message as much as an inherent bias in the voting districts. That being said, the GOP machinery does have a foothold on manufacturing reasons to vote rep/not vote dem.

I would'nt be surprised if in a couple of weeks people would actually think Foley' a democrat. All he has to say he is gay. The democrats couldnt sell candy to a kid for free if they wanted to. The republicans are brilliant in gettiing the power but incompetent with handling it. Its frightening how pathetic the democrats are, in not actually doing something with all the folies that this administration has committed and stays committed to. Unfortunately the general populace is so numb to anything given that gas prices are dropping. we dont even need soma.

Sounds like you work for Fox News Amigo. Of course you have some come up with the "party line" or you bye, bye job right? Why don't you tell the real story about George Bush being gay? It is all over the internet and not a neo-con conspiracy theory if you bother checking.

#65 has hit the nail on the head and #70 is more
than likely closer to fact than fiction.

as an American who considers himself one who
loves his country - the land and it's peoples -
I hang my head in shame as a citizen under
this administration. they truly are the gang
who couldn't shoot straight.

put your investments in the Euro, the Yen -
anything but the Dollar. boycott American
products & brands. the only thing that will kill
the monster is to shut off the money which
feeds it. our military will expand until the
empire crumbles - as has been the case
throughout history, never fear that - but
Lord help the world until it does because
Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld and their kind
are true evil personified. the suffering of
millions is nothing to them in their mad
lust for world domination. GWB is a figurehead
who might actually think he is in charge, but
he's as much of a prop as Ronald Reagan was.

"God created war in order to teach Americans geography"

Ambrose Bierce wrote those words well over
100 years ago and they still apply completely.

BTW I think the original article was rubbish
but the US politicians and particularly the
Republicans under Karl Rove have shown us
that there's no depth to which they won't
plumb in order to maintain power.

and absolute power is what the current
lot desire - they want to RULE and it's
been demonstrated by their actions
time and time again.

our economy is going to go ~foof!~ and
everybody is going to pretend to be really
surprised and shocked and amazed when
it does.

in the meantime, watch for the attack on Iran
to happen before November. ah, the rest of the
world will love that.

This is simply "editorial hedging". Whether the Democrats win or lose in November, Justin can claim I TOLD YOU SO.

It is not about elections being "rigged" (the GOP claimed that one too for many years when the Dems controlled both houses). The country is pretty much evenly split on the issues right now. It will be about who sends more of their consituency to the polls...as it has been during the past several elections. Don't be fooled thinking the GOP will "stay home" either. GOP voters realize what is at stake for them this election season. The Foley scandal MAY backfire if it is proven that the Dems held on to this information for months (as Soros' websites and several media outlets have been claiming) in order to spring an "October Surprise." Regardless, politics is still dirty and the smell of it won't soon be washed out of this country's clothes...no matter which party we support.

If there is going to be some Foley backlash, I haven't seen it. I've been following the polls. If the election were to take place today the republicans would most likely retain control of both houses of congress. So far, since the Foley scandal broke, that is unchanged. Polling done since the Foley scandal broke shows little change in the numbers from before the scandal broke.

The political variable that frightens me the most is not U.S. politicians, but U.S. constituents. Everyone has been complaining about the Republicans' wrongdoings. However, that debate has been long over. What truly scares me are those people who hypnotically, relentlessly, shamelessly and scientifically continue voting for the GOP. 51% of American voters truly scare me for their lack of - I am going to say it - moral values.

I think the author of the first reply here nailed it.

Mr. Webb,
It's funny when someone upsets the Dems apple cart. All the nasty worms come out. Please be more careful next time.

There is a time in everyones life when one truly understands the nature of men,we find it disheartining and cold, only because we know we are the same as them. Democrats, Republicans, WHO CARES, it seems it is more about protecting your partys power than protecting the lives of those you serve. I AM TIRED, of all this greed and uninmaginable corruption I see today. Do not throw yourself into any affiliation with Democrats or Republicans, live for what you think is right and have no bias. Who knew 200 years ago that America would be this horrible...

Once so great
she now stands
Dreams still shattered
Across the Land

Maybe remembing the many sex scandals that the U.S. democrats commit time and time again is good for their party but the Republicans will suffer over this scandal not because the dems abhore this type of behavior but rather because Americans are suprised because a republican commited this crime.

If the Democrats "go down in flames" it will be because they failed to create and articulate a coherent strategy at an opportune time.

Remember the Republican "Contract with America" during Clinton's forgettable first two years in office? The Democrats should take a hint and state what they are for rather than what they are against.

Complaining about what is already happening is as easy as finding a vision of where you want to go is not. Recently the Republicans have been better at articulating that vision.

Democrats beware. Let the media sling the mud. They are very good at it and will do it without necessitating your involvement leaving you free to rise above the fray, looking forward.