Comments on: Hey (Hey) You (You) Get Off Of My Comment Board!

By: A Tree Falls in the Forest at Blog P.I.

A Tree Falls in the Forest at Blog P.I. — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:47:13 +0000

[...] Obviously, it’s still too early to tell where this is going, if anywhere. That said, despite the finger-pointer’s history of accuracy, that isn’t enough to go on here. In those cases he presented physical evidence, this time he’s quoting anonymous sources only he has access to. Blog P.I. is never one to avoid controversy, but until something resembling evidence materializes, we’ll refrain. [...]

By: WWB

WWB — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:11:21 +0000

Mick, you make some good points. Iraq probably is worse for the GOP than Foleygate. But Democrats have their own problems with Iraq, whereas the inadequate investigation and subsequent internecine fighting is a problem for the GOP and which the Dems are going to exploit. But it is interesting that it takes everyone off-message.

Besides, don’t you sense a great deal of disillusionment with the GOP right now? Everywhere you turn, it seems, there’s another Republican throwing his or her hands up in the air, declaring it would be better for the GOP to lose the House and get their priorities straight. If the Dems did win the House, they’d have responsibility but a thin majority and not much power — and it would allow the GOP to run as a reform movement again by 2008, both in the House and for the White House. That would hurt Hillary Clinton more than, say, John McCain.

And I’ve seen the Kausfiles post you mention. It’s an interesting point, though even he notes it may be a little too early yet. There’s also Kaus Faster Thesis (after all, he talks about it waaay more than Bruce Feiler ever did) to consider, so you’re right that for maximum national effect, it should have been dropped a few weeks ago. This is actually why I doubt the leakers of the Foley e-mails/IMs intended to take out anybody besides Foley. After all, who knew the GOP response would be this clumsy?

By: Mick Stockinger

Mick Stockinger — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:48:04 +0000

I like the way you think about this, but I’m not sure that I agree.

The assumption is that the Foley affair hurts Republicans generally–why? In a polarized political environment, we are dealing with ideology, not personalities. Republicans are still going to vote Republican and they will come out to vote because its pretty clear what the stakes are if the Democrats regain political power.

Mickey Kaus reports on some polls that put the lie to the idea that Foley’s district is a lost cause.

So the question is–if the Foley affair doesn’t hurt Republicans as much as the chattering classes and the Democrat leadership say it does, it is really NOT in the Republicans interest to keep the controversy going? Think about what else is going on at the moment that ISN’T getting media attention–namely Bob Woodward’s supposedly bomb-shell book. Iraq is a genuine vunerability for the Republicans and its been pushed off the front pages.

As usual, I think the Democrats shot their loads too early–note that the Republicans haven’t dropped their bombs yet (and you know they will). If Democrats had a brain, they would have outted Foley on October 31st…