October 02, 2006
Foley: The Republican Playbook
The Republican playbook is fairly simple. They remember how the Democratic Party suffered from the perception that Dems in Congress defended Bill Clinton's conduct. So the first play is to repudiate the conduct and demand that the entire investigative apparatus of the federal government, from the senior-most agents in the FBI to the lowliest computer crime techs at the Secret Service -- rush to investigative Foley.
Second, they hope that by being so open and upfront about their calls for an investigation and their disappointment with Foley, they'll escape the taint.
Third, they'll emphasize that they didn't know about the IMs until ABC News reported them.
Fourth, they'll try to tamp down on internal disagreements about the timeline. This will be hard.
Fifth, the NRCC and GOP candidate ads may get even more brutal (as will the DCCC's and the Dem candidate spots). And no, the NRCC won't flinch from using cultural issues. The more independent voters are disgusted by Foley's comments, the more they'll be primed to find repulsive any departures from "normal" cultural values. Besides, few non-aligned voters in Indiana's 8th congressional district know what the NRCC is, anyway. (People see the ads, not who made them.)
Sixth, they'll pray that either a Democratic member is implicated in similar shenanigans... or that the story goes away soon. Well, this thing won't be wrapped by week's end. ABC News is aggressively pursuing the story, and broadly. Other news organizations are, too. Republican lawmakers in tough races will begin to give back Foley contributions, which will, in those races, cut against them for a news cycle.
Seventh: scrub the websites!!!!!
Posted at 04:45 PM
Comments
Why when you report the Democrat's playbook do you offer a critique, but you simply state the Republican playbook without commentary?
Rich | 10.02.06 08:58 PM
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ABC found out about the emails, and found the IMs a day later. The idea that an investigation by the Republican leadership didn't turn up the same things mean one of two things:
1. They're lying about not knowing about the IMs.
2. They deliberately did a cursory investigation because they were afraid what they might find.
Hastert and Reynolds should both resign.
JoshA | 10.02.06 08:59 PM
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Even the most stupid among us will, in time, become
desensitized to this constant barrage of Political
bull shit from both sides.
Bill Konrad | 10.03.06 06:00 AM
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Perhaps the Democrats suffered "suffered from the perception that Dems in Congress defended Bill Clinton's conduct." But they didn't suffer at the ballot box. The Democrats gained seats after Clinton was impeached.
Clark | 10.03.06 07:59 AM
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This is a blow to Republicans. I saw the Culture Warrior, you know Bill O'Reilly, last night and he looked like someone had shot his dog. He was so bummed out that this could happen to a Republican.
Pug | 10.03.06 09:40 AM
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