Chicago Tribune
By Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
October 6, 2006, 7:44 PM CDT
WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders, closing ranks around House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, have settled on a strategy of trying to move quickly
beyond the congressional page scandal and turn the political
conversation to such issues as terrorism, tax cuts and a growing
economy in the final four weeks before Election Day.
They face a tough challenge, as polls show a growing number of
Americans inclined to vote Democratic on Nov. 7 and most people
surveyed this week suspecting a "cover-up" in the House's handling of
the controversy involving lewd electronic messages sent by former Rep.
Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to underage pages.
But with an explosive story erupting a month before an election in
which control of Congress is at stake, Republicans have few options.
Party leaders have concluded their best hope is to present a united
front and change the subject, rather than forcing out Hastert or other
leaders.
The strategy is not without risk, and it could be upended by any more
damaging revelations.
But for now, President Bush is planning to stand alongside Hastert,
the Illinois Republican, in Chicago on Thursday at a fundraiser for
the congressional campaigns of State Sen. Peter Roskam and David
McSweeney. Roskam, who faces Democrat Tammy Duckworth, and McSweeney,
who is challenging Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean, say they "have no
problem" appearing with Hastert and believe the campaign will quickly
turn to matters they consider more pressing than a Washington scandal.
Both Bush and Hastert seized on the newest federal economic report
Friday, which showed a relatively sluggish increase of 51,000 jobs
last month. Claiming credit for their party's tax cuts in the creation
of 6.6 million jobs since the summer of 2003, the party is making its
commitment to tax cuts - and purported Democratic designs for raising
taxes - a central theme of its midterm campaign.
After a week in which Republican Party leaders often seemed to be
contradicting and accusing each other, the new strategy of unity was
apparent everywhere Friday.
Bush, who kept a certain distance from the House leader in the first
few days after reports of Foley's sexually explicit communications
with a teenage male page, finally has reaffirmed his support for
Hastert's continuing service while investigations are conducted.
The White House and GOP leaders hope Hastert's acceptance of
responsibility for the scandal Thursday, combined with the launch of
several investigations likely to be concluded after Election Day,
marks "a turning point" in what had become a perilous episode for the
party.
Amid some calls for Hastert's resignation as speaker, Ken Mehlman,
chairman of the Republican National Committee, flatly predicted that
Hastert still will be speaker on Election Day - and that his party will
succeed, if narrowly, in stemming a Democratic bid for House control.
"He has done what a leader should do to take responsibility," Mehlman
said. "It is being full investigated. Denny Hastert is a man of his
word. The notion that Denny Hastert is going around covering things
up, I don't think people will buy it. That's not who he is."
Yet two-thirds of Americans surveyed this week by Time magazine who
said they are aware of the Foley scandal said they see a cover-up in
the House's handling of the matter. The survey of 1,002 adults also
found 54 percent saying they are more likely to vote for a Democratic
candidate for Congress and 39 percent a Republican - a margin of
advantage for the Democratic Party that is 11 points higher than what
Time's survey found in June.
The impression of a coverup may be bolstered by the fact that a former
longtime aide to Foley, Kirk Fordham, said he had alerted the
speaker's office to a problem with Foley more than two years ago, and
that Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) said he personally told Hastert of a
problem months ago, which Hastert maintains he does not recall.
"The incident itself is very sad and may well be criminal, but the
real issue is the coverup," said Doug Schoen, a pollster who has
served former President Bill Clinton and other Democrats. "For the
Republicans not to take responsibility in a meaningful way is, to me,
tantamount to accepting behavior that is clearly inappropriate or
worse."
Mehlman maintains that Hastert held Foley accountable as he learned of
Foley's emails last week.
"Ethical responsibility is critical to the American people," Mehlman
said, "and what the American people are going to see when they look at
this is that the moment the leaders of Congress looked at this, they
did something that hasn't been done for 30 years. They told a member
of Congress, 'Either you are out of here or we are going to push you
out of here.'"
Yet Democrats see a potent new weapon in the scandal as Republicans
rally around a House speaker embroiled in questions of a coverup.
Democrat Dan Seals, challenging Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) in the 10th
District, demanded on Friday that Kirk resign his House leadership
post as a majority whip if he continues to support Hastert's
speakership.
"If Kirk is not willing to call into question the speaker's
leadership, then we need to call into question his leadership," Seals
said at a news conference outside Kirk's office in Northbrook. "There
is a moral test here, and Rep. Kirk is failing it. He is placing the
protection of the Republican leadership over the protection of teenage
pages working in Congress."
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) renewed his call Friday for Rep. John
Shimkus (R-Ill.) to resign as chairman of the House Page Board because
he had been told months before of an e-mail Foley wrote to a page. "It
has been a week since this scandal broke," Durbin said, "and
Congressman Shimkus still doesn't get it. It is not a House scandal or
a Republican scandal - it is a national disgrace."
As Democrats attempt to keep elections focused on the war in Iraq - and
now a lurid new scandal questioning the responsibility of the
Republican House leadership - the GOP is attempting to refocus public
attention on its commitment to tax cuts and national security.
"I predict in 10 days we'll be talking about something completely
different," said Roskam, suggesting that the Foley matter
is "perceived as an inside-the-Beltway scandal that is concerning but
isn't driving the conversation…. We're just running our race, talking
about taxes, immigration, the things we want to be talking about."
Both Bush and Hastert readily seized on the newest employment report
of the federal government - with unemployment down to 4.6 percent and
51,000 new jobs created in September - as signs that their party's tax-
cutting policies are working.
"One sure way to hurt this economy is to take money out of the pockets
of consumers, or small business owners, and send it to Washington,
D.C.," the president said at a Federal Express facility. He plans to
deliver a speech on the economy in Washington on Wednesday.
The Democratic Party decried the relatively anemic growth in jobs
as "a heckuva job report."
Staff reporter Susan Kuczka contributed from Northbrook, and
correspondent Christi Parsons contributed from Washington.
mdsilva@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune
