October 03, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- Try And Skip Past Foley
The three main topics of TV last night were the Amish school shootings, Mark Foley, and Bob Woodward's book:
NBC's Viqueira, on the Foley fallout: "It is unclear what the threshold is here for violations of the law. There may not be a threshold. But a lot of it depends ... on how this remains in the public eye, what kind of pressure they are under over the next six weeks, leading up to election day, in particular" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/2).
FNC's Garrett: "Throughout his Congressional career, Foley refused to discuss his sexuality publicly. Rumors persisted he was gay. There is no evidence GOP leaders knew of Foley's secret sexual correspondence with male House pages" ("Special Report," 10/2).
Speaker Denny Hastert: "I don't recall Reynolds talking to me about that. If he did, he brought it in with a whole stack of things, and I think if he would have had that discussion, he would have said it was also resolved, because my understanding now that it was resolved at that point. The family had gotten what it wanted to get" ("Situation Room," CNN, 10/2).
Dem strategist Steve McMahon: "There was a whisper campaign that Congressman Foley was gay. But I don't think anybody had any idea that he was hitting on teenage pages" ("Tucker," MSNBC, 10/2).
Newsweek's Fineman: "This is a missile aimed straight at the heart of the Republican base, which is why Republicans in the White House and on the Hill are scrambling so quickly to try to get ahead of this fast moving story" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 10/2).
Ex-WH adviser David Gergen: "This story is going to trace itself up to just exactly who exactly in the leadership of the Republican Party knew what when. And that is going to keep the story alive for day after day, and keep the Republicans on the defensive, with the election just around the corner" ("AC 360," CNN, 10/2).
America's Cause Bay Buchanan: "This is a known homosexual who is writing e-mails to the home of a 16-year-old boy, asking for pictures. That's all you need to know. ... We need an investigation. Bring in the FBI. Stop this guy. Make certain that, if indeed he was the predator he could be, he was stopped that day. They failed that. You cannot spin this. And I don't know that I would call it a cover-up" ("Situation Room," CNN, 10/2).
FROM THE CANDIDATES
FL 16 candidate Tim Mahoney (D), on when his campaign found out: "The campaign was actually contacted the day before the instant messages came out and we were asked if we knew anything."
More: "There was an open secret because if you look at the press reports and the storying being written, there was information in those stories not available on the Internet. So it was very clear that there were newspapers that had interviewed Mark and talked to him going back to 2005."
Asked if he's accusing the press of sitting on the story: "I'm not accusing anybody of anything" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/2).
FL 16 candidate Joe Negron (R), asked how he'll overcome Foley's name on the ballot: "I don't think it's going to be difficult to overcome that, because people are a lot smarter and a lot more sophisticated than the pundits are giving them credit for."
Asked about the timing of the released messages: "Whether or not they were released now or before is really not important. The reality now is: I'm the Republican nominee. I have over a month to get my message out" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 10/2).
More Negron: "I don't think anything has been covered up. I think there's a full investigation under way. And whatever penalties need to be meted out and whatever we need to do to make sure that this never happens to another young man or young woman who becomes a page in the U.S. Congress" ("Situation Room," CNN, 10/2).
BY THE BOOK
NBC's Mitchell interviewed ex-CoS Andy Card. Mitchell: "He said it wasn't a conspiracy so get rid of Rumsfeld."
Card: "I did speak to him frequently about defense, as these opportunities for change were presented. I also reflected to the president what I had heard when I would go meet with members of Congress, Democrats, Republicans, and Senators, the House members. And it was always a candid conversation."
Mitchell: "And you were hearing that Republicans on the Hill had concerns about Don Rumsfeld?"
Card: "I was. And I would not be bashful about repeating that. And I would counsel the president appropriately as the chief of staff. But I would never lobby the president, and I would never go out and solicit others to lobby the president. So to claim there's a campaign that I orchestrated or was trying to mount would be inaccurate. I did reflect the views that were presented to me, and I tried to do it objectively. When asked for my opinion, I would give my opinion. But I also would point out that there were many times when I counseled the president not to make any changes at the secretary of defense, that it wasn't the right time to consider a change."
Asked if he ever recommended James Baker replace Rumsfeld: "I had a book that I called the hit-by-the-bus book. It was a spiral notebook -- it is a spiral notebook and it was something that I started even before I assumed the responsibilities as chief of staff. I felt very strongly that the president should be prepared to make changes in case somebody got hit by a bus. And so it included every senior staff position at the White House, including the chief of staff's position and all of the positions in the cabinet and I would add names to that list and sometimes I would strike names off of it. But it was an ever green list of potential successors and Jim Baker was right at the top of the list for potential successors for number of positions, not just the secretary of Defense" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/2).
Card, on Woodward: "I was counseled by the White House to cooperate with him and to talk with him. And I did. And I found that he was an easy person to talk to. I have great respect for Bob Woodward. He's a great reporter and a terrific journalist. And he's been a successful author. And I was hoping that he was going to tell a story that would reflect the president's leadership and the resolve that he has to do the right thing and to get the job done."
More: "Laura Bush never said to me that she wanted to have Secretary Rumsfeld removed. Never. She would talk about people who were helping the president. And I would listen to her, because we both cared deeply about the president, but no one cares more than Laura Bush" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 10/2). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 08:00 AM
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