|
Ironically, Foleygate
threatens the GOP in a way that Delay, Abramoff and refusal to admit failed
policy and manipulated voters has not. Excerpts from
reporting by Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei in the WaPost, After Foley, New Fears for GOP 100306: Some Social
conservatives call for Hastert to resign: Tony
Perkins, president of
the Family Research Council and an important social conservative leader, said
"there's a real chance" that the episode could dethrone the GOP
majority. "I think the next 48
hours are critical in how this is handled,"
he said, adding that "when a party
holds itself out as the guardian of values, this is not helpful." David Bossie, who runs a group called Citizens
United, called yesterday for Hastert's resignation and said other conservative
leaders are likely to follow suit. Bossie said the initial e-mails alone, which
included Foley's request of a minor's picture, should have prompted an
immediate inquiry. "That was a cry for an investigation," Bossie
said. "Why couldn't the speaker of the
House muster the will to stop this?" Leaders from about
six dozen socially conservative
groups held a
conference call late yesterday afternoon, and participants were described as
livid with House GOP leaders. "They are
outraged by how Hastert handled this," said Paul M. Weyrich, a conservative activist who
participated in the call. "They feel let down, left aside. How can they
allow a guy like [Foley] to remain chairman of the committee on missing and
exploited children when there is any question about e-mails?" Vin Weber, a GOP lobbyist close to the White House
and to congressional leaders, said many Republicans outside of Washington are
echoing Bossie. "From what I
hear, it is resonating badly and our candidates are on the defensive about
this," Weber said. "The maddening
thing about this is if they had done the right thing" by
informing Democrats early on and investigating it fully, "there would be no political fallout,"
he said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/02/AR2006100201463_pf.html It’s equally sad that there seems to be as much concern for loss of
political power as much as egregious negligence of duty. The reason this wasn’t
pursued when it was first brought to their attention is because Tom DeLay was
the verbal authority for the House GOP leadership, and following his example,
Foley’s transgressions weren’t terribly significant: why would they undermine a
popular incumbent in the state of Florida? |
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
