Woodward book & Congress?! - neck and neck news

The news appears to disfavor Republicans these days. First, Bob Woodward's book, in my opinion, presented the biggest blockbuster news with his revelation about George Tenent and Cofer Black's meeting with Condoleezza Rice in the summer of 2001, according to the New York Times linked stories. The uproar is a continually unfolding story of denial, lack of recall, revelations, repositioning, reframing, etc., on the part of the current administration. And second, the same dysfunctional response scenario is also coming from the House leadership.
(photo: StockXCHNG)

The Republican House has itself in a "peck of trouble" with the Foley scandal, according to the (10/3/06) New York Times story by Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny. To quote,

Straining to hold the party together five weeks from Election Day amid unfolding revelations about the case, Mr. Hastert and his leadership team held a conference call with House Republicans on Monday night and heard blunt advice and criticism from participants who pressed for further action to reassure voters.

Looking for good news - In addition to current stories (such as this one from the Washingto Post about how the Foley scandal could tip the election), people seem to want to find reasons for that optimism from posts from my archives. Congress S/SW post archives are frequently revisited by my readers. This one, "DeLay Indictment" (9-28-05) is one of the current favorites. It seems to epitomize the scandalous themes of today. And I think we Democrats are beginning to allow ourselves to be cautiously hopeful of a good 2006 election outcome. Three popular examples follow:

• Fewer lobbyists hired in more good news - 9/9/06,
• No kidding, and it is still true! Congress rates low in public mind - 10/29/05,
• Middle East, fear and the polls in Are these the bad old days? - 1/31/06,
• Recent post with an amalgum of political predictions - 8/24/06

All segments of the political news spectrum are able to find things about which to be furious with these current Congressional articles. The conservative Washington Times, for example, is calling for Speaker Hastert's resignation. U.S News and World Report headlined that Hastert dismisses any such action. The liberal New York Times editorialized about how winning elections can become a corrupting goal of the majority too long in power, a much lower key approach. And I think that is how it will go. We Democrats can, to some extent, observe wryly that the Republicans are perfectly capable of doing themselves in without much help from their opposing party.

Tags: bush congress foley mark foley republicans book news and politics Woodward