HOTLINE
October 02, 2006
Foley: The Democratic Playbook
It may not be as smooth as the Republicans' Stirling engine, but the Democrats' party committees are hitting on all cylinders today. They want candidates in each and every House and Senate race to push the Foley scandal to its hilt.
(Sample DSCC release: “Foley Sex Scandal Hits DeWine.” Sample WI Dem party release: “Foley Scandal: What Did Green Know and When Did He Know it?”)
Here's Dems' playbook:
1. Pay no heed to the distinction between the e-mails and IMs. There's no evidence (yet) that any Republican leaders knew about Foley's cybersex IMs. There's plenty of evidence that they knew how uncomfortable the "overly friendly" e-mails made at least one page. So the Dems will press the GOP on what they knew about the former and will constantly, in their press releases, refer to the "GOP's knowledge of the sexually explicit e-mails."
2. Enlarge the wedge between House leaders. The tension this weekend between Speaker Dennis Hastert and NRCC chair Tom Reynolds was thick. Dems want it to suffocate the party and throw the Republicans even further off their game.
3. Be aggressive about how Dems will -- and are -- protecting children. Dems want to keep the issue poisonous in a way that's clear and direct to middle America. (In other words: this ain't earmarks.)
4. Choose unimpeachable spokespeople to be their public face. The DCCC has enlisted Patty Wetterling, its candidate for MN 06, to call for "a thorough investigation" of the House leadership over Foley. Wetterling's son, Jacob, was kidnapped in 1989.
5. Deride the Republicans for incompetence. How can you possibly trust them with national security if you can't trust them with your own children?
6. Bring up Terri Schiavo's case and compare the heated GOP attention back then to their allegedly lax attention to the welfare of their pages.
7. Compare what the GOP leadership says about Foley with what Republicans said about Jack Abramoff.
8. Use the Foley cash. Already, the DSCC wonders why George Allen didn't immediately return the Foley. The quotable Phil Singer: “It is more than a little disturbing that Allen apparently sees nothing wrong with holding on to contributions he got from an adult who has been caught sending sexually explicit email to children." Allen and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) will return the cash. But the NRCC already spent the $550K and won't.
Here's what the Democrats hope to accomplish:
1. Republicans will flinch before they try and use "values" as a cudgel. Can this NRCC ad against Brad Ellsworth be run in this environment?
2. Democrats now have a new way to respond to the Republicans when they go negative: "They're just trying to distract you from the scandal."
3. GOP candidates will be thrown on the defensive, generally.
4. Link House candidates -- and not just Reynolds -- to the sense that that the GOP was hesitant to investigate or even poke around into Foley's life because they didn't want to jeopardize their majority. That is, they craved power to the point where they ignored or suppressed warnings.
They will overplay it.
Wonder how Sherrod Brown feels about Congressmen preying on youngsters.
Great post.
I for one will do whatever I can to defend Hastert, even though I haven't been his biggest fan. He's getting a bum rap in this case, I think.
This isn't a Trent Lott situation. This was not Hastert's doing, and we're a month out from a critical election.
Ping to #99
Wow, this is going to reach a level of political war which we haven't seen, or at least I haven't seen. Of course Reagan is the first president I have a memory of, I'm sure there had to be more vicious times.
There is so much here. but for starters how does one justify questioning small children about things like "do you touch yourself and how does it feel?" How is it protective of children to insist that homosexuals be allowed to be scout leaders.
Thank you! A voice of reason on here once again with facts of what the Dims are up to with this scandal.
While it is sad that this happened to her...once again, they use someone that has "victim status" so no one can say a word about the actions they are taking. Typical MO for Dems.
Wow-I read your post 99 and the first thing that came to mind was - where are the adults? No one is talking about the issues Americans care about. It's disgusting (not your post)all this mudslinging. My dad's bigger than your dad stuff makes both parties look ridiculous.