Oops. Denny's
damage control news conference hits some rocks.
One senior Republican official who would speak about internal party matters only without being named said Mr. Hastert in his remarks had accomplished two goals sought by his colleagues: He had accepted some responsibility and had acknowledged that the response to complaints about the initial e-mail sent to a former teenage page in Louisiana had been inadequate.
"I'm hoping this is gone," said the official, who, like others, cautioned that new disclosures could quickly imperil Mr. Hastert and that the coming elections could answer the question of his future regardless.
Did he say "
new disclosures"?
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.
The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.
That's a problem for the Speaker. And more pressure on the Spreaker is a problem for the GOP. Tom Kean Jr. of NJ is already calling for Hastert's resignation, and more GOP congressman
don't want him around. There seems to be a faith-based approach to all of this by Republicans. Their strategy seems to be "let's pray it works out". Well,
guess what?
After looking at the news for the past 10 days or so, I have to wonder how Democrats can possibly fail in their efforts to take both the House and the Senate.
The national atmospherics don't merely favor Democrats; they set the stage for a blowout of cosmic proportions next month.
No, that's not a prediction, since Republicans still have a month to "localize" enough races to hold onto one or both chambers of Congress. But you don't have to be Teddy White or V.O. Key to know that the GOP is now flirting with disaster.
Denny Hastert may be the disaster that the GOP is flirting with. Bringing dishonor every day to the Speaker's chair and to House Republicans is hardly the way for the GOP to make this issue "gone". of course, they really have no choice at this point. Every leader below Hastert is involved, and they won't cancel campaigning for a new election. Hastert is still a dead man walking, and so is his party. More Rothenberg:
Let's forget all of the niceties and diplomatic language and cut to the obvious truth: From the White House to Capitol Hill, Republicans look inept. And that assertion is based on what Republicans are saying.
This so-called leadership of the House certainly makes Rothenberg's point for him. The public already thinks there's a House leadership cover-up. And somehow, I don't think that's the end of the revelations.
Well, let's see what the weekend holds. There are other things to focus on, but it's tough to ignore this when the GOP keeps shooting itself in the foot.