Davis on Foley, Political Fallout

Democratic candidate for governor and Tampa Congressman Jim Davis addressed the situation after his property tax news conference.

“What happened was a tragedy. I think Mark Foley did the right thing in resigning. He violated the public trust. He will be held accountable for that. I think this is one of many things that has happened in Washington, particularly the way it was not handled by the leadership in the congress, that is going to upset voters."

Comments

[boofdah]

Glad Davis took the high road on this one, and didn't buy into the rumours that are flying around re: Crist (however true--or not--they might be).

i agree with jim on this one.

washington is a mess!

i refuse to vote for any congressional member running for a promotion:

so, NO to kathy,
and NO to jim davis.

boofdah, I am proud of you. I thought for certain you would be pushing the same rumors that Crist will be brought down and tied down into this scandal, even though he had nothing to do with it.

I hint at some respect for you, and I will give much more if you admit that the rumors are not true.

[boofdah]

4:34,

I haven't been commenting much about this lately because the can of worms has only recently been opened. What the Republicans were hoping was going to be swept under the rug in a "take-out-the-trash" Friday newsbit has, unluckily for them, metastacized into what it is now, and we're STILL learning new info about this case.

As an innocent bystander and Buzzbrowser, I'll take a wait-and-see attitude for now.

when will the republican trash start blaming all of this on bill clinton?

have been a registered Democrat since 1968 when I voted for the first time, and pretty much qualify as a "yellow dog" democrat having voted for such luminaries as Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. I was pretty proud of my local Dems, led by Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles, but the new democrats like Gatordem (I can only assume he is young) make me sick with all the vitriol that spout on these blogs.

At least Jim Davis is a far better man than his so-called supporters here.

[zenator]

Mark Foley is a sexual pervert who engaged in cyber sex with boy pages, while hypocritically pretending for political purposes to be concerned about the exploitation of children. Mr. Foley is currently under criminal investigation by Federal and Florida authorities and presumably will be brought to justice in due course.

I do not blame the Dems for seeking to exploit the Foley scandal for political advantage, but believe that they may have badly overplayed the Foley hand (pun intended).

The gay movement, a significant component of the Dem base, has attempted by various means to advance its own political and social agenda. In response, the Evangelical Christians, a significant component of the Repub base, has attempted by various means to advance its counter agenda, which includes portraying homosexual conduct as a sinful perversion. For better or worse, the public overwhelming agrees with the Evangelicals that homosexuality is incompatible with accepted, family values.

It seems likely that the flames that the Dems fanned will soon outrace the issue of whether Repub leaders should have done more to contain Foley. Soon the focus will shift onto homosexuality in government and onto Democrats, like Barney Frank etc. Soon the Dems will find themselves broadly on the defensive having to justify their pro-gay platform to an electorate that generally believes otherwise. It will serve as yet another reminder that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones…

5:30

Unfortunately, the anwer to your question is ASAP. I suspect, however, that the Repub will broadly counterattack on the family value front.

8:06

To be fair and balanced, Gatordem, and most democrat bloggers for that matter, do not represent the average partisan voter. He represents the far left base of the democrats, the dailykos blogger types, which 80% plus of the democrat bloggers are from the far left. They are the most angry.

Most people, even on this blog, should know that the FAR left only represent 20% of the democrat party in life, but much more in the blogosphere.

The far right also has an overabundance on blogs in general, but not as high of a percentage, more like 60% of republican bloggers.

That said, you are ALWAYS welcome to the republican side if you so choose. We are not perfect, but in my belief we do (at least in FL currently) better than the other side.

[gatordem]

Zenator

I believe that the public as a whole, with the exception of the so called "Evangelical Christians" are far more tolerant of gay people than you give them credit for. The only folks bringing up the suitablity of gay people for public life are going to be the folks on the far right. I think that will be a losing proposition for them.

My read on that is that MOST people are generally tolerant of other people's sexuality. Where people start to differ is over what some would call "special status" for homosexuals, or the sort of "in your face" attitude of some gays. There are legitimate arguments on both sides of those scores.

What you are suggesting is that this Foley affair will be the start of some repressive movement. If there is one, and I would not be at all surprised if the far right initiates one, I do not believe it will get very far. Again, most people are tolerant of one another. If they see one group maliciously trying to repress another, their sense of fair play and tolerance will put a stop to it.

Interestingly enough, I have had conversations with a conservative Christian recently. This gentleman is an attorney, not in favor of gay marriage or civil unions. He is not in favor of civil unions, because as an attorney, he has done a lot of leagal work for gay couples setting them up with all the legal rights and protections contracturaly as they would have with a civil union. All, that is, but the sanction of the state.

I relate that conversation by way of illustration. My friend does not much care for the "in your face" sort of gay movement, but is otherwise tolerant of their sexual preferences. I think that there are a lot more of those kind of Christians than the ones who would try to repress gays.

Apparently, we are about to find out.

As for Clinton, MSNBC just did a rapid edit cut around to all the wingnut talking heads... and, you guessed it - every cut was ,"Clinton, Clinton, Clinton".

Let the games begin.

[Imadashell]

Ok we believe that this scandal is so huge it will affect every congressional and statewide race.The perfect storm is brewing ..The Dems are assured to sweep congress and have an excellent chance to take the senate with Harold Ford now winnig Tenn and Mcacca boy in trouble in VA. .This cannot be contained and the disgust will spread to Charlie Crist as this single renter without a family tries th convince dems and swing voters of his family values ..What family ..Does he embrace the family values of Congress??This could be enough to sit down the right wing nutjobs to stay home..This story has legs!!

gatordem,

Did you honestly claim, "The only folks bringing up the suitablity of gay people for public life are going to be the folks on the far right?" You clearly are out of the loop! It's the guys on your side who seem to be obsessed with "is he or isn't he" and "McGreevey Moments."

[deep_throat_74]

As long as Mark Foley is out of the picture, Joe Negron will be a natural shoe in just as long as Ralph Hughes continues to write him checks.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/campfin/contrib.asp

Ralph Hughes contributor
Negron, Joe (REP)(ATG) 03/02/2005 500.00 CHE HUGHES RALPH W. 10909 THERESA ARBOR DR. TAMPA, FL 33617 INDUSTRIALIST

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/03/13/news_pf/State/Activist

Imadashell, you are quite amusing! You've got it all planned out don't you? It's just that those damned voters keep screwing it all up for you! They keep clamoring for solutions or a plan. Don't they get it? You guys HAVE a plan, you're just not going to talk about it until after you are elected. It's a secret plan. In fact, it's such a good plan that if you talked about it, the Republicans would steal it and claim it as their own, because it's THAT good, right? That's why you can't mention your solutions to the threat of terrorism, education, taxes, or hell, anything else for that matter! It's not that you don't have any answers. Nah, couldn't be that. You just have top secret, classified answers for your eyes only. Yeah, I get it. Sorry, but most likely, the majority of voters will do like I am going to do. They will look at the Party that is fighting the war against those that want us dead. They will look at the Party that is fostering a booming economy (another record today!) They will look at the Party that keeps taxes low. And they will look at the Party that is willing to put their solutions out there and debate them. They will compare that to the Party that says, "trust us, we have a plan, really..." and they will pull the lever for the R's.
I know, it remains to be seen. But that's what I predict.

yes, the voters look at a party that led us into a rotten war in iraq, a party that has saddled us with trillions of dollars in debt, and a party which is beholden to k-street lobbyists and evangelical snake-oil peddlers.

What the hell is an "evangelical snake-oil peddler?"

8:28 p.m. yesterday,

Democratic.

Please make a note of it.

Thank you.

Sorry, it is the DEMOCRAT party affiliation. Not democratic, please make a note of THAT. Thank you.

They only have been calling themselves that b/c they try to make people believe that they are the true party of democracy, which we are in fact NOT a democracy either, but a republic.

Oh yea, and the constitution nor its amendments even give citizens the right to vote. Chew on that.

The 14th amendment only provides that if states give people the right to vote, that they cannot discriminate based on .........

So the state of FL could decide that the governor will decide who the electors vote for, or they could base it on a football game, or anything. Of course every state bases it off of the voters in its state currently.

But that may change in CA, check that out.

10:03,

We are a representative democracy, as well as a republic.

Ironic how you Republicans think so highly of a President who preaches on about "spreading democracy" throughout the Middle East by bombing them to the Stone Age, yet you deny that the oldest democracy in the world is, in fact, NOT a democracy. Shame on you.

And quit insulting us by calling us the "Democrat party". We are the Democratic party. Please make a note of it, once again.

12:04 this a.m.

You must really be on crack to think that the economy is "booming" because of an artificial rise in the Dow numbers. Think anyone except the top 1% of the extremely-wealthy are benefiting from that "boom"?

For the ninetieth time, "trickle-down" economics does NOT work and hasn't since 1980, when your hero Reagan first took office.

[gatordem]

11:50 PM

I think the "McGreevey Moments." comments are coming from your side. McGreevey was a Dem you may recall.

[Imadashell]

..There is ample evidence that will tie Crist to Your gop leader Foley..There is a 527 being formed to disclose the info.."Soft Pink Boots for truth"..So dont get COCKIE..The floey thing has legs and just when you thought it was over.!!!Soft pink Boots for truth will prove in 1993 Crist and Foley lived together..We will reveal the info from the Sgt at Arms in the legislature that kept a record..and whe have the Photos utility bills ..get ready to be Pink Boated!!