memeorandum: Hastert takes blame for page scandal (Associated Press)

9:05 PM ET, October 5, 2006

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INTERNAL POLL SUGGESTS HASTERT COULD DEVASTATE GOP — WASHINGTON — House Republican candidates will suffer massive losses if House Speaker Dennis Hastert remains speaker until Election Day, according to internal polling data from a prominent GOP pollster, FOX News has learned.

The Blotter:

Three More Former Pages Accuse Foley of Online Sexual Approaches — Brian Ross, Rhonda Schwartz & Maddy Sauer Report: — Three more former congressional pages have come forward to reveal what they call "sexual approaches" over the Internet from former Congressman Mark Foley.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Macsmind, Pajamas Media, The Strata-Sphere, Hit and Run, Mia Culpa, Think Progress, The American Street, Pam's House Blend and The Political Pit Bull

Collin Bishop / WGRZ-TV:

DAVIS SLIPS INTO LEAD OVER REYNOLDS — A new scientific telephone survey that was commissioned by 2 On Your Side shows Democratic challenger Jack Davis with a small lead over Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds. — The poll conducted by the company SurveyUSA asked the opinion of 482 likely voters …

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory, Daily Kos, Swing State Project, The Blue State and Capitol confidential

Tony Karon / Time:

TIME Poll: The Foley Sex Scandal Has Hurt G.O.P. Election Prospects — Two-thirds of those aware of the scandal believe Republican leaders attempted a cover-up, according to a new survey — Two-thirds of Americans aware of the congressional-page sex scandal believe Republican leaders tried …

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate and DownWithTyranny!

Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:

Voters Say Scandals Will Affect Votes — Voters Polled by AP Say Scandals Will Affect Whom They Choose in Midterm Elections — Congressional Republicans, already struggling against negative public perceptions of Congress, now face voters who say new scandals will significantly influence their vote in November.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice, MyDD and BluegrassReport.org

Rasmussen Reports:

61% Believe Republican Leaders Have Been Protecting Foley — Sixty-one percent (61%) of American adults believe that Republican leaders have been "protecting [Mark] Foley for several years." A Rasmussen Reports national opinion survey conducted Tuesday and Wednesday nights shows …

Discussion: MyDD

Judd / Think Progress:

Pajamas Media, Instapundit Facilitate Outing Of Foley Victim — An obscure right-wing blogger, Wild Bill, has outed one of Mark Foley's victims, a former Congressional page. It is a despicable act. Wild Bill however, gets almost no traffic, so the damage done to the victim's life could have been minimal.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, Confederate Yankee, Whiskey Bar, Norwegianity, TPMmuckraker, Mia Culpa, KnoxViews and Lean Left

Associated Press:

Hastert takes blame for page scandal — House speaker says will work to protect teens working for Congress — WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert apologized and took responsibility on Thursday for the unfolding page sex scandal involving fellow Republican Mark Foley.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Legal Fiction, TAPPED, Norwegianity, The Blue State and TBogg

CNN:

Former FBI head Freeh to examine page system … WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Dennis Hastert will ask former FBI director Louis Freeh to examine the congressional page system and make recommendations on how to improve the program, CNN has learned. — That word came as Hastert prepared …

Discussion: The RBC, The Right Angle, Daily Kos and Angry Bear

Bill Sammon / Examiner:
Cheney: GOP 'will retain control'

Discussion: TAPPED, Democrats.com and The Fix

Andrew Buncombe / Independent:
Republicans face election disaster as e-mail sex scandal gathers pace

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Talent Show

Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:
Hastert: I'm Sorry, I Didn't Get Freeh, I'm Staying, and I Blame the Dems

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Wonkette, Waveflux and Showdown 06

Jim Davenport / Associated Press:
Gingrich on page scandal: Democrats have done far worse

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Hill, The Sundries Shack, DownWithTyranny!, TPMmuckraker, PoliBlog, Nitpicker and Donklephant

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times: Bush's Megaphone Unable to Reach Above the Din

CNN:
Page's family: Leave our 'hero' son alone

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

MSNBC:
Hastert clings to power as scandal swirls

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Rasmussen Reports:

Connecticut Senate: Lieberman Lead Reaches Double Digits — Lieberman (I) 50% Lamont (D) 40% — Senator Joseph Lieberman (I) has increased his margin over Democrat Ned Lamont by eight points. He now leads the antiwar candidate 50% to 40% (see crosstabs).

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

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Hartford Courant:
Ned And Ted Counter Joe

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TAPPED, MyDD, Norwegianity, Ned Lamont for Senate and Daily Kos

Ellen Si / Associated Press:

Dow Hits 3rd Straight Record Close — NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street rose modestly Thursday, nudging the Dow Jones industrial average to its third straight record high close as investors welcomed upbeat retail sales and jobless claims figures. — The Dow closed at 11,866.69, surpassing the record of 11,850.61 set Wednesday.

Ali Eteraz / Eteraz:

Stand Against Women Stoned to Death You Apathetic Monsters — This is a call for action to do our small part in coming to the assistance of the women in Iran who have been sentenced to death by stoning. — 1. Read the background and an explanation of the punishment for stoning to death in Islamic Law.

Discussion: The Reaction, Classical Values, SIVACRACY.NET and Majikthise

Washington Post:

Hastert Holds a Media Availability — SPEAKER: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), — HASTERT: Well, thank you very much for everybody showing up today. — I'm sorry — you know, when you talk about the page issue and what's happened in the Congress, I'm deeply sorry that this has happened.

Discussion: AMERICAblog

David Rennie / Telegraph:

Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims police union — Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day. — As the interior ministry said that nearly 2,500 officers …