I am really beginning to think that the Foley scandal is the GOPs campaign tactic. They want to keep the story out front. Here is my reasoning for this.

1. More top Republican aides keep coming forward and throwing new monkey wrenches in the story. Just today another top aide to Denny Hastert has come forward and said he told the speaker about what was happening a year before Hastert admits it.

2. Gerry Studs, Gerry Studs, Gerry Studs. We hear that name constantly now. All the media is using that GOP talking point. They are trying to minimize what Foley did because of what Gerry Studs did. Some facts need to be straightened out on that though.

• What Gerry Studs did is disgusting. He was censured by the House, which is the most they could do. It was his constituents that decided to keep him in power.
• Gerry Studs had consensual sex with a 17 year old page. His advances were not met with a page going to his parents saying “sick sick sick sick sick sick sick”. Foley was obviously being overly forward, bordering on preying upon these children.
• Again – what Gerry Studs did was horrible, but it was also 22 years ago. We want to talk about today. Besides – this little “well Gerry Studs did it” defense reminds me of a bunch of children. It makes me want to slap the shit out of these childish Republicans and say “so if Newt jumps off a bridge will you?”. You are leaders in the world’s most powerful nation – act like it!

3. The Republicans keep saying that they want to talk with their constituents about what really matters to them. I disagree. Foley is the story and it is out there. The GOP can do nothing about that, except exploit it. What do they really want to say about:

• Iraq and the 27 soldiers killed so far this month.
• Iraq and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee saying the situation is much worse there and the course may have to be changed
• The economy and the dismal 51,000 jobs added last month as well as the fact that America’s middle class is struggling hard to survive under the Republican plan
• Afghanistan and the Taliban’s new growth spurt
• The NIE.
• Bob Woodward’s book
• Jack Abramoff’s 485 visits to the White House that have lead to Karl Rove’s top aide resigning.
• The soon to be very public no-flight list that has the name of 9/11 hijacker’s on it, and the names of those in the London liquid explosives plot from 3 months ago not on it
• The fact that Condi has been caught in another lie by the American people. She was warned months before 9/11 about the attack and ignored it!
• How about North Korea getting ready to test a nuclear weapon? This all happened under Bush’s watch!

These are the issues the American people will take serious stock in. The Republicans do not want these issues getting the non-stop coverage on the 24/7 news channels. If they keep Foley on the front page of the media’s news, then they can do an under the radar local level spin on everything.

Notice something about Foley? It isn’t the Democrats talking about it – it is the Republicans. It isn’t Democrats yelling that Hastert should resign – it is the Republicans. That is why I still say Hastert is toast. He will resign, but he will do it at a time when it is opportune for his party – right before the election, or is some other bombshell drops on the Republicans.

The Democrats need to take control of what is out there in the news and let the American people know that the war on terror, the economy and Afghanistan are the most important issues. These are also issues that the Republicans have no substantial argument in because it is their policies that have failed.