FL-16: Foley Fallout (What the LOCAL voters are saying)

First let me say that I live in Florida's 22nd Congressional District. For those of you who don't know FL-22 buts up aginst FL-16. Many of my friends, neighbors, family live in the 16th, and I am very familiar with it's politics. (Mark Foley lives about 3 miles from my house).

I like posting these anecdotal accounts of voter intent/feeling. They are very important, IMHO, in determining what the voters will do in Nov.

Today I came across a doozy of a story...

A friend of mine is what I think of as "The Poster Boy" of modern Republican politics. He is a former Marine Lt. Col. in his mid to late 50's. He is the defenition of a "Values Voter". He is a devout Christian, long time Republican, 2x Bush voter. I spoke with him today about the Foley situation (he lives in FL-16). I have never seen him so pissed off in my life. He is angry at Foley, and more importantly, the entire House leadership. He told me how he couldn't wait to vote for Tim Mahoney, and even tells me he might just vote a straight Democratic ticket.
Coiencdentaly another Republican friend of mine overheard our converstaion and chimed in that he too is sick of the Republican party, though he doesn't like the idea of a "Speaker Pelosi". (My Marine friend told him to get used to the idea).

This is HUGE.
If anyone was worried that people would vote for Foley's replacement (Joe Negron BTW), I don't think we have anything to worry about.

This being said,
Please feel free to post your anecdotal stories, regarding Foley, in the comments.

Peace

•  Tips? n/t

  by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:24:01 AM PDT

•  Hope that's indicative of the country

  Thanks. Cheered me up.

  by Little on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:28:59 AM PDT

  •  Sounds as if this could be a real tipping point

    for a lot of voters the Dems had not yet reached.

    It shows Republicans that Democrats have values, that Republicans do not own values is a better way to put it.

    by Gorette on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:36:28 AM PDT

•  Hey

  Speaker Pelosi can't be that bad. After all, if she was skilled enough to become Minority Leader, then she would be skilled enough to not push for legislation that couldn't get passed (or that would totally backfire).

  And she wouldn't vote, unless the matter was really pressing. That could be considered a good thing to the Pelosi-skeptics, right?

  by RBH on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:29:20 AM PDT

  •  When they Bring up Pelosi

    Just ask, "Could she be worse than Hastert?"

    by CTReformedRep on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:43:04 AM PDT

    •  They think anyone with a D after their name

      is worse than the Republican. (facts be damned)

      by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:44:37 AM PDT

  •  That "speaker Pelosi" schtick

    has been a republi-con talking point for the "echo chamber" for a while now.  If anything, perhaps you can convince your friend to stop listening to RWtalk radio, otherwise known as "brain rot".

    Just a suggestion of course...snark intended.

    As for your diary, I think it's fantastic that some of your republi-con friends are starting to come around.  I think that MANY more will as well...nothing is more important to the traditional "values" voter than family and children.  This will resonate far and wide, I think.

    Thanks for sharing!

    by Shaking the Tree on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:51:07 AM PDT

•  Bueno.

  What's the local scuttlebutt about Klein and Shaw?

  by brownsox on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:34:56 AM PDT

  •  Tought to tell...

    Klein/Shaw, is not a very juicy story. Last I heard Klein is only a couple of points behind in polls. RNCC is running local ads that show a picture of Klein in profile (like they are trying to say "don't vote for the big nose Jew") I can't imagine this will be very effective here (heavy Jewish population).

    Other than that, I will do what I can to GOTV for Klein!

    by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:39:11 AM PDT

    •  oops "Tough" n/t

      by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:41:17 AM PDT

•  Good diary. Happy diary. About time they

  started to see the light, isn't it.

  Jack Murtha is going to keep seeking the position and might just win it. He has a chance I think. People would love to see a military man in there right now, one critical of all that's been going on, and when oversight on armed forces and vets services will be important.

  by Gorette on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:35:12 AM PDT

  •  Along those lines...

    I even got my Marine friend to admit that Wes Clarke would make a good President!

    I almost hit the floor.

    by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:40:25 AM PDT

  •  you're talking about Majority Leader

    Pelosi will become Speaker if the Dems win control. Murtha is challenging Steny Hoyer for the position of Majority Leader if Dems win control.

    by Nathaniel Ament Stone on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:44:24 AM PDT

•  FL-16 is ours now

  along with the House and the Senate.  I think as the larger revelations of this scandal come out, people will want to see the entire Congress change hands and see the Rethugs put into minority status.

  by roamer65 on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:57:31 AM PDT

  •  I make sure...

    that when I discuss this issue with people, I throw in "the worst part is, they tried to cover for him!"
    Most just shake their heads in disgust.

    by weelzup on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:59:25 AM PDT

•  Backlash

  I think a lot of 'values voters' aren;t going to accept the White House's attampt to minimalize the seriousness of Foley's actions and the Republican coverup.

  by GW Chimpzilla on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 11:59:31 AM PDT

  •  Exactly...

    You hit it head on.  The more they cover, the worse they'll look (and BE!).

    This is political quicksand.  The more they flail about trying to wriggle free, the faster they'll sink.

    {crossing fingers, praying to all angels in the universe}

    by Shaking the Tree on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 12:11:39 PM PDT

•  Speaker Preadator Protector

  or Speaker Pelosi..

  Seems like a no brainer to me

  by etherapy on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 12:13:10 PM PDT

•  two does not a tidal wave make

  there will be plenty of time for Rush, Hannity, et al., to explain to them why this is not a big deal, its just isolated to one guy, that Dems do it too, yadda yadda yadda

  Guarantee you, in two weeks, those guys will be back on message.

  by qazplm on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 12:16:36 PM PDT

•  Heh...

  "...he doesn't like the idea of a "Speaker Pelosi".  He must be a Hannity devotee, since he's parroting the Hannity meme du jour.

  by Caldonia on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 12:22:36 PM PDT

•  My respect for Pelosi increased...

  when I saw here speaking as "a mother and grandmother" last Friday and heard the Republicans on the House floor heckling her anonymously.  

  She has the chance to leave a great mark as the post powerful WOMAN in national politics.

  I've heard some Republican neighbors talking here too and they're upset about Foley and the GOP reaction to it.  Sexual conduct is something that alienates their base. Just look at their reactions even now to the Clintons.

  In every district you can subtract 2-3% more from the GOP and add it to the Dem or to the stay-at-home vote.

  There are still 4 weeks until the election, and they could well attack Iran.

  But right now they are in serious trouble!

  by Retired in Ohio on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 01:00:13 PM PDT

•  some right wing comments

  Glad to hear that some Florida Republicans are coming to their senses.

  But here are some comments from some insane right wingers posting to Betsy's Blog, just to show what rethug rationalizations look like.

  ---------------------------
  While it may be too soon to call for Haster's resignation, there is a lot for which he needs to answer. He's already changed his story about what he knew, so how about a definitive answer? What about the $100,000 donation from Foley to Reynolds? Coincidence or not? What about the creepy "win a lunch with Mark Foley" contest? Sounds like warnings about him had already been sounded.
  mark | 10.03.06 - 8:21 am | #

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  The Dems are already making this the centerpiece of their '06 strategy. Pre 9/11 mindset - go for scandal. And they'll wonder what happened again in November.
  Pat | 10.03.06 - 9:11 am | #

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  What makes you think that they don't have more scandals, books, and fraudulent faxes lined up than will fit comfortably into a 5 week period? Or that they don't want to overlap scandals so they can move to the next one before the truth of the current one can be dug out?
  Nell | 10.03.06 - 9:30 am | #

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  And are we supposed to believe that all the Dems are pure as the driven snow?? Not likely. So if they got power back do you think there won't be payback against them? Of course there will be. And once again it will be the country that suffers while all of these pathetic nitwits play politics with one another.
  Florence Schmieg | 10.03.06 - 10:43 am | #

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  "they would have held off and had this scandal break much closer to the election." They would have, except Bush's turning against the anti-Iraq tide. They wanted to change the topic. Also because the MSM is scooping each other. Unlike Rathergate which was manufactured by CBS, they could wait till just before the election to spring the trap. This one is based on fact, so they have to step over each other to air the linen out. I always believe politicians are sleazy. I only base my vote on whoever cut my taxes and nothing else.
  ic | 10.03.06 - 1:48 pm | #

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  Florence:
  ... pathetic nitwits. Truer words were never spoken. Our legislative bodies are populated with pathetic nitwits. Just think, in a month we will have an opportunity to throw them out but we won't. It seems the public is a bigger bunch of nitwits than the politicians.
  Chuck
  Charles Bannerman | Homepage | 10.03.06 - 1:49 pm | #

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  This was a planned and organized program of slime by the democrats. The only thing they didn't count on is the FBI investigaton. They thought they could keep it in house and cut and cover after the election. Won't work this time. the action and the coverup by democratic operatives will come out and enough people will rise up and the perps will find themselves in court, and hopefully in jail. Remember the court system is ate up with liberal (democratic driven) PC so conviction will be hard.
  Scrapiron | 10.03.06 - 2:03 pm | #

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  As to why it broke now: I don't necessarily discount the theory that the Democrats are organizing this whole thing, and I don't think the timing disproves it. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that they are doing so. So why is the info being released now? Some possible explanations:

  • Never discount the DNC's ability to screw up. Possibly they fully intended for this to be a pre-election bombshell, but someone got their wires crossed as to when it would be released. Or, there was infighting over who would get the glory for breaking the story (quite possible considering the sturm and drang of Howard Dean's leadership), and someone decided to jump on it now so they could claim credit inside the party.
  • ic's explanation that this is the beginning of a torrent of material, that the Dems want to release daily fodder for Atrios and Kos every day between now and the election. Keep the drums beating and the nutroots energised.
  • Some party who had access to the IM's was planning to go public, possibly enticed by a big advance check from a magazine or publisher. The DNC decided they had to go now to avoid losing the political advantage that would have occurred if "People" had released the story first.
  • Foley is just the tip of an iceberg that covers both parties. The Dems decided to go now to get on top of the story, and so they could try to discredit any future stories about a Democrat being involved as being mere retaliation.

  One other bit that interests me: From what I've read, Foley's district in Florida is considered a safe district for the Republicans. However, it's too late now to change the ballot in that district. Apparently state law will permit the Florida Republicans to caucus and nominate a replacement candidate, and all votes for Foley on the ballot will be counted towards the replacement candidate. No doubt the Democrats are going to let this go until after election day, and then immediately start filing lawsuits.
  Cousin Dave | 10.03.06 - 3:47 pm | #

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  Please forgive my complete disinterest in this non story. I'm more interested in the news over North Korea's preparation to conduct a nuclear test than Democratic outrage over nasty IM's.

  http://apnews.myway.com/... D8KHAP602.html
  Gary B | 10.03.06 - 3:58 pm | #

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  Two articles that I find very interesting:
  American Thinker (a short version of an article at Hotline blog)

  http://tinyurl.com/...

  and

  http://tinyurl.com/...
  from Sweetness&light with a surprising candidate for the "outing" party.
  suek | 10.03.06 - 4:41 pm | #

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  Betsy,

  Re the timing of the story:

  Part of me wonders, with a guy like Foley...he knew as well as anyone what it would take to get caught and did it anyway...and he wrote the very laws under which he may now be convicted, and without which he might not have been...and sometimes men like him are also self-loathers ... so...

  ...did he out himself?

  Odds are probably against it at this pt, but it's not something we can fully discount yet, either.
  ras | 10.03.06 - 6:06 pm | #

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  "He's already changed his story about what he knew,"--mark

  A master liar at work again. upon discovering that the initial reports that Hastert knew about Foley's misconduct were wrong, he shifts seamlessly to a parallel line of attack. It's not the Democrat's and mainstream media's stories that keep changing, it's Representative Hastert's.

  Is there an honest leftist anywhere in the world?
  Jim Stegall | 10.03.06 - 8:51 pm | #

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  I'll worry about mark's charges as soon as he tells me about how the Dems should be frantically trying to oust Rep. Jefferson in LA on the 'frozen cash' scandal.

  And I'll bet that at least some Dems had an idea that Jefferson had his hand in the till. Wonder why they didn't shove him out before he was caught?
  JorgXMcKie | 10.03.06 - 10:12 pm | #

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  Whichever party wins this next election, the country will survive. However, if we lose the current war we are in, we might not. It seems we are being forced to choose between a bad plan of action and no plan of action. So maybe a smoke screen of a tawdry scandal will delight the political class and result in an upheaval in the government. Will that make us safer and more secure? I think not. Get a grip America. You are sending your brothers and sisters overseas to fight. Maybe we should honor them here at home by getting serious about what matters. Otherwise, why BOTHER?
  kent | 10.03.06 - 11:39 pm | #

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  by Randian on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 06:41:48 AM PDT