As The Pendulum Swings
By Miguel Guanipa (10/10/06)
Call me an optimist, but I doubt the Democrats will be able to gain control of the House or the Senate in November.
Here’s why I am holding on to this bit of hope that seems to - by all accounts from the media - defy most expectations.
The main reason is provided by the recent “scandal “involving Rep. Mark Foley and the infamous instant messages of a sexual nature he sent to the young page.
The Democrats are desperately trying to hold on to this ethics issue and milk it for all it’s worth. For them it epitomizes the crass hypocrisy on the part of a Republican held congress that has become corrupted by power. The party of “values”, as some contend in their accusations, is nothing more than a gathering of perverts trying to cover up for each other.
But what seemingly indignant Democrats are doing is pushing the pendulum as hard as possible towards one end forgetting that it has to eventually swing in the opposite way, much like Republican did during the Clinton scandal days; and Republicans have time on their side considering the speed at which news become part of the public domain on a daily basis.
With 30 odd days in the balance chances are a revival may take place that will once again call for a need to begin setting up post-election trauma clinics for disillusioned democratic voters.
Thus far it is being alleged that the supposedly unsuspecting page was a legal adult when Rep. Foley made his electronic advances. This is not good news for the democrats who were trying to paint Foley as an incorrigible pedophile.
Not surprisingly, there’s hardly a peep to be heard from the homosexual community which arguably composes a large portion of the liberal wing of the democratic base; but this new revelation and the ensuing investigations into further corruption is bound to force them anew out of the closet and defend the rights of Rep. Foley to engage in his extra curricular diversions in the internet as long as it is with another consenting adult.
Democrats will have two choices: drop the matter altogether and find another “October Surprise” to steer them into victory, or continue hammering at a cause that seems to have taken on a life of its own and will most likely backfire in the coming days. Both options will give the Republicans an opportunity to regroup and fight back; not to mention it will give them an additional weapon with which they can now paint the democrats as a party of conveniently scandalized homophobes and peddlers of gossip aimed strictly at character assassination.
The democrats should be aware they have already walked a few yards into this minefield. It will be hard to turn back and return with all extremities intact after unwittingly alienating the treasured contingency that the homosexual community represents.
Additionally, there is a good chance that those who found in the original story a persuasive argument for voting democratic in November will not be too happy to hear that all this time they have been manipulated by Democratic smear merchants who knew all of the facts about the story but chose only to reveal the salacious enough details that would help tilt the odds in their favor.
And we haven’t even gotten to those hard line Republicans who would have voted along party lines anyway. If there is anything that is going to energize them is a move from the Democrats that only reminds them of the “fake Documents” fiasco Dan Rather tripped on during the last presidential election.
That is the nature of a pendulum. It is just a matter of time before you see it coming back in the other direction.
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