Congressman Foley Aims to Topple Sen. Graham

NewsMax.com ^ | 6-19-03 | Chuck Noe

[JohnnyZ]

Neither Weldon nor Webster has announced their candidacy, but Feeney was quoted as saying Webster would be perfect.

[Pubbie]

I agree with Feeney...

[BlueNgold]

This is a good article, but ignores the obvious - Don't forget Joe Scarborough - the most recognized and respected politician in the state outside of Jeb.

[press]

Actually, the no runoff now is what will actually give foley the victory. All he'll need is 26 percent of the vote to win with 4 candidates -- he can pull that in south florida alone.

[flrepublican1]

I support Bill McCollum for U.S. Senate and I think he will be the nominee regardless of Dan Webster's decision to run. McCollum has a strong database of supporters from his 2000 Senate race and his 20 yrs in Congress. McCollum is pro-life and has experience dealing with issues the nation is facing now.

McCollum will win a general election. First off with the runoff gone, Palm Beach, Miami Dade and Broward will dominate the Democratic primary and will most likely nominate Peter Deutsch or with a strong african american turnout Alcee Hastings, both are unelectable. Also, Jeb Bush, Tom Gallagher, Charlie Crist and even Bill Nelson all lost in their first run for statewide office but won the second time. In a McCollum-Deutsch, McCollum-Hastings race, McCollum easily carries central and north Florida.

Dan Webster ought to stay in the Florida Senate and go for a cabinet seat in 2006, I just don't think he has the support in the party that McCollum has.

[press]

Why would McCollum win NOW, when he got killed by a weak candidate like Nelson four years ago? He's spend millions of dollars and ran statewide, and his own poll numbers have him down worse now that four years ago!

McCollum Poll McCollum Poll

March 9-10, 1999* June 11, 2003**

McCollum 37% McCollum 30.3%

Foley 13% Foley 17.5%

Undecided 51% Undecided 52.3%

[zebrahead]

You would like to think that the good conservatives in Florida wouldn't turn their back on Foley if he winds up being the nominee. They have every right to vote against him in the primary but the recent shenanigans in the Senate make gaining every possible seat a top priority in 2004. Right now, he would probably be the favorite in the primary mainly because of his huge lead in the fundraising race. I've read he already has raised several million dollars for the race and is probably capable of raising a ton more.

[MainstreamConservative]

Not true. I live in the state and a republican must rack up a big margin there to win. Florida is a highly competitive swing state, albeit with slight reoublican leanings. A few percentage points can literally change the outcome in most races. It's the same way with democrats in south Florida: they must carry it by a comfortble margin to win. If a republican were to lose the panhandle, they must do well in ALL of south Florida, which is quite hard to do in a race against even a semi-credible democrat.

[MainstreamConservative]

Good points all. We should try to encourage McCollum to get out and have the administration offer him a job, like maybe a cabinate position.

[MainstreamConservative]

We should back Webster. Also, another dynamic that has not yet come into play is who Jeb will through his considerable weight behind. As of now, I say it's Webster. He and Bush are similar ideolgicaly and he tried to get him elected Senate President, but alas a moderate beat him. McCollum cannot win, unless he is running against Alcee Hastings or Peter Duetsch. Foley will turn off the base with his..... "personal issues."

[flrepublican1]

Bill Nelson was not a weak candidate, unlike McCollum he was elected statewide twice and had his database from his 1990 run for Governor, Nelson was re-elected in the same year Jeb was elected Governor. Nelson did have statewide name recognition in the 2000 Senate race, something McCollum then an Orlando Congressman did not have. Secondly, Nelson is a moderate Democrat who appealed to Central FLA voters.

2004 is different. This time around you have south Florida liberal Democrats who have never been elected statewide running for the Senate. This time around against Deutsch who will most likely emerge as the nominee, McCollum has a heads up because he has run statewide and Deutsch will not appeal to Central and North Florida the way Nelson did. The 2000 Senate race was not a blowout and Nelson also had an incumbent President campaigning for him, something McCollum will have in 04.

[Rome2000]

Posted on Tue, May. 27, 2003

Foley's bedfellows: politics, hypocrisy

Mark Foley can't have it both ways.

The Republican congressman from Palm Beach can't hold himself up as a defender of gay rights while at the same time denounce as ''revolting and unforgivable'' questions about whether he is gay.

Last week Foley held a news conference with a handful of selected reporters to declare that he would not answer questions about his personal life. ''I'm not going to be dragged into the gutter by these rumormongers,'' he declared.

Foley may be within his rights to say he doesn't want to talk about his sexual orientation, but, unfortunately, his words implied there is something wrong with being gay.

Why should it be ''revolting and unforgivable'' to ask if he is gay? And why would it be tantamount to being ''dragged into the gutter'' for him to answer such a question?

Foley's words only serve to feed the hatred and bigotry of the conservative wing of Florida's Republican Party. And he's doing it because these are the people who will decide if Foley is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Do I believe Foley is gay? In addition to fairly persuasive reports in both the gay press and, more recently, the Broward edition of New Times, a friend of mine said he was at a social gathering with Foley a few months ago at which the congressman introduced his partner and said the two of them had been together for more than 19 years.

Do I care that Foley is gay? No. But I do care if he is being a hypocrite.

And what does it say about the character of a man if he is more interested in his own political survivability than in being honest and open about who he is?

Yes, voters are mainly interested in where a candidate stands on issues like the economy, national security and the environment.

But voters are also looking for leaders, men and women who show courage.

If a powerful United States congressman can't openly be gay, what does that say to those men and women, boys and girls, who are more vulnerable to ridicule and scorn?

I recognize it may not be fair to lay this responsibility at Foley's feet. And in a way, I feel sorry for him. He's right; it shouldn't matter if he's gay. Unfortunately, in today's world, being openly gay would cause some voters to look at him differently.

Which is why he doesn't want to answer the question. Not because voters aren't interested, but because he's afraid some of them would be.

Foley's effort to sidestep the issue was the pragmatic approach of a misguided politician desperate to deny the realities of his own party.

I am stunned Foley thought he could run for the Senate -- as a Republican in Florida -- and not have this issue come up. And he's not thinking clearly if he believes his news conference is going to settle the matter.

After the news conference, leading conservatives -- including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., and Gov. Jeb Bush -- issued statements of support.

Foley had obviously brokered a Faustian pact with his party's right wing: He would stay in the closet and they would vouch for his conservative credentials.

I'm more troubled that Foley was willing to climb into bed with these men to further his ambitions than I am with whom he sleeps at night.

The more intriguing question: How many of these Republicans would have embraced Foley if he actually had said he was gay? If he had said, ''Yes, I'm gay, but I'm not going to discuss my personal life further, because I believe voters are more interested in the issues.'' What would DeLay and Feeney and Bush have done then?

In the Republican Party, it's OK to be gay, as long as you act somewhat ashamed of it. Among conservatives, you can be queer and here, but just not loud and proud.

[flrepublican1]

I could not agree with you more and if Mark Foley is our Senate nominee, I will support him. However I am a Republican because I am pro-life and I believe in traditional family values as Bill McCollum does. I don't care about Mark Foley's personal life, I do have reservations about his pro gay rights voting record in Congress and the fact that the Human Rights campaign has supported his campaigns. However like the DEM candidate Mark is pro choice but he will vote for a ban on partial birth abortion and will support President Bush and as a Republican I will support him if he is the nominee but I don't think he will be.

[Rome2000]

So I don't see why he's "pro-gay."

He is supposedly gay himself.

If he is and thinks he is going get away with hiding it, he is out of his freakin mind.

[flrepublican1]

Why would he want a cabinet position when he is going to be a US Senator?

[flrepublican1]

I think the Governor will steer clear of getting involved in the 2004 US Senate primary. There have been reports that the White House is encouraging Dan Webster to get into the Senate race. I remember when he was House Speaker, very decent and conservative guy. His entry would help Foley since he and McCollum will split Orlando as well as the conservative vote.

[Rome2000]

I think we had better start looking at someone other than Foley, or are we waiting until late October for the press to out him.

He's not married, doesn't have kids, walks around introducing his "partner" of 19 years and thinks he can run without the press following him around?

This is not acceptable.

The son of Edward and Fran Foley, Congressman Foley was born September 8, 1954, in Newton, Massachusetts. He moved to Florida at the age of three and has lived in the West Palm Beach area ever since. Southern Florida's sixteenth congressional district includes residents of Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties.

[flrepublican1]

As for Weldon when he went to the House in 1994 he promised he would leave after eight years, hes going on 10 so breaking his term limit pledge was not smart and will not help him in a Senate race.

[flrepublican1]

I agree. McCollum 2004! :)

[flrepublican1]

I agree. McCollum 2004! :)