Thursday's links and comments

With the political season entering the last month before the election there are a number of articles discussing various facets of the senate, house and gubernatorial races.

All week the media has concentrated on the weird emails and instant messages of former Representative Foley and built a case that his problems will turn the tide for Democrats in November. My own opinion is at most the Foley mess will cost the GOP one congressional seat - the one he just resigned. And even that is not a given. Here are a few articles on the political fall out of Foley's misbehavior:
In an article The Corner of National Review Online titled 20/20 Hindsight, Andy McCarthy says it is a mistake to castigate Speaker Hastert for not overreacting to the original emails which were rather innocuous. I'm not a big fan of Hastert's, but I agree with McCarthy.

The Washington Prowler column of the American Spectator discusses the dangers to the Democrats of overplaying their hand on this situation.

Ann Coulter nails the hypocrisy of the Democrats in her weekly column. Here is a taste:

But now, the same Democrats who are incensed that Bush's National Security Agency was listening in on al-Qaida phone calls are incensed that Republicans were not reading a gay congressman's instant messages.

Let's run this past the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: The suspect sent an inappropriately friendly e-mail to a teenager -- oh also, we think he's gay. Can we spy on his instant messages? On a scale of 1 to 10, what are the odds that any court in the nation would have said: YOU BET! Put a tail on that guy -- and a credit check, too!

When Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee found unprotected e-mails from the Democrats about their plan to oppose Miguel Estrada's judicial nomination because he was Hispanic, Democrats erupted in rage that their e-mails were being read. The Republican staffer responsible was forced to resign.

Neil Brown, Executive Editor of the St. Petersburg Times defends the newspapers decision not to report the original emails last November.

The latest on the Foley mess is this item from the Drudge Report.

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal. According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.

Don't get me wrong Foley is a reprobate and the House of Representatives is better off without him. Having said that, something seemed odd about how and when this story came to light.
Here are some articles not related to Foley:

The Evans-Novak Political Report considers all the races in play and concludes the Republicans will retain control of both houses of congress.

Murtha accused of bribe cover-up. People forget that Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the ABSCAM bribery case. With him getting more prominent in the lose the war circles and seeking to a leadership role in the next Congress his past is getting a fresh look. Republican should fully fund Murtha's challenger.

Do you need a reason to vote in November? The Washington Times provides a major reason to vote this November - Charlie Rangel controlling the tax code.

If Democrats gain 15 seats in the House in the midterm congressional elections, New York Rep. Charlie Rangel will become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, making him the principal gatekeeper for tax legislation in Congress. In various interviews recently, Mr. Rangel has sent different messages. On Sept. 20, he told Bloomberg News that he "cannot think of one" of the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush that merits renewal.

All the talk that Sen George Allen is a racist based on apparently false accusations of comments made 35 years ago seems to be having little lasting affect.

VA-Sen: George Allen Opens Double-Digit Lead

One reason those accusations are not impacting Allen as intended is the people who know him best spoke up.

Local Black Clergy Plan Monthly Jaunts to Help Sen. Allen. Allen “is in a political war right now,” says Ellison, formerly the chief chaplain of the Richmond City Jail Chaplain Corps. “A lot of people think Allen is a racist. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. I’ve known George for 25 years. He’s always been supportive of me, and we’re going to support him.”