Obama Snags Another Key GOP Endorsement; Update: Foley Denies Story

The guy who likely cost the GOP the House of Representatives in 2006 is now endorsing The Messiah.

He's all yours, Democrats.

What they both said was how great Foley looked, and he was particularly excited about Colin Powell's endorsement that morning of Obama. Foley said he also favors Obama.

And Foley also expressed some pleasure in watching the latest developments from his old Florida district: His successor, Democrat Tim Mahoney, is now in trouble for a series of extramarital affairs.

Been wondering why nobody has asked him about Mahoney.

Speaking of that lowlife Mahoney, to no surprise his wife has filed for divorce. We may see a rare GOP blowout in his district.

Private Republican and Democratic polls showed Mahoney with a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Tom Rooney early this month. But a post-scandal poll by the Rooney campaign last week showed the Republican with a 55-to-29 percent lead over Mahoney.

Still, outside of South Florida, the national media has zero interest in the story. They couldn't get enough of Foley's foibles in 2006.

What media double standard?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Update: Rush Limbaugh read a statement from Foley denying he endorsed Obama, claimed he'd already voted early in Florida but wouldn't say who he voted for.

Thanks for clearing that up, Mark.

Florida Dem Scored Federal Grant for Second Mistress, Now Under FBI Investigation and May Scuttle Re-election Bid

Lowlife Florida Democrat Tim Mahoney apparently is getting in way too deep now.

Current and former aides for Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL) say he was carrying on an affair with a county official from Florida at the same time he lobbied to help her county receive a $3.4 million federal grant.

Current and former aides for Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL) say he was carrying on an affair with a county official from Florida at the same time he lobbied to help her county receive a $3.4 million federal grant. Foley resigned his office amid charges he exchanged sexually explicit emails and instant messages on the internet with congressional pages.

One former top campaign aide says Mahoney acknowledged the woman had spent the week at his Washington apartment but shrugged off warnings such behavior could cause him political trouble. The aides said the woman was also seen with Mahoney at restaurants and at his Washington DC apartment late at night.

Based on interviews with a number of staffers, campaign workers and top Democratic officials in Congress, it appears Mahoney ignored warnings since last year about what now appears to have been multiple extra-marital relationships.

ABC News reported Monday that one former Congressional and campaign staff member, Patricia Allen was paid $121,000 by Mahoney to keep her from filing suit and going public about their alleged affair after she had been fired by Mahoney.

So let's briefly recap: That's at least two girlfriends, a wife, a payoff to one girlfriend and a federal grant for another. Busy guy. But remember, Nancy Pelosi knew nothing about this until Monday. Sure. She's either the dumbest person on the planet or she's lying through her teeth. I suspect the latter.

Well, it looks like lover boy has attracted the attention of the FBI, not a good thing heading into an election. While the Democrats have an amazing tolerance for corruption withing their ranks, it may be too much to protect this loser.

Especially since he's in a competitive district and now has bleak prospects.

Mahoney had so far survived saying that his job as a member of Congress wasn't the best job he's ever had, and his moderate voting record looked as if it would hold him in good stead. But a late-breaking scandal -- reported three weeks before the election -- involving a $121,000 payoff to a former mistress is the type of thing that gets one knocked out of office. Mahoney's re-election chances now appear doomed.

Charlie Rangel and Cold Cash Jefferson they can look the other way for, since they're shoo-ins every election.

Mahoney? He's expendable.

In fact, now it's reported he may not be seeking re-election. I guess Queen Bee Pelosi hates being kept in the dark.

Embattled Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney may not seek reelection in Florida next month after ABC News broke a story earlier this week that the congressman had paid a former aide to keep quiet about their alleged affair, according to a Democratic leadership aide with ties to his campaign.

Sounds to me like he's getting a nice push overboard. Tonight would be convenient timing what with all the debate coverage to overshadow it.

Don't forget when Mark Foley was forced out it was too late to take his name off the ballot. Let's see if the Democrats received special treatment here. It is Palm Beach County, after all.

Speaking of Foley, is it just me or is this story receiving an underwhelming amount of coverage as compared to that scandal?

Pelosi Plays Dumb: 'I Just Learned Today About the Serious Allegations Concerning Congressman Tim Mahoney'

Of course, acting dumb is a role that comes naturally to the Speaker of the Most Ethical Congress Ever.

We're supposed to believe one of her persons of hench, Rahm Emanuel, knew about this almost two years ago and just today is the first she's hearing of it?

You know, I'll forgive her if she isn't reading Gateway Pundit (she should, though), but does she think we're all as dumb as her constituents?

Apparently so.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday called for an investigation into claims that Rep. Tim Mahoney paid $121,000 to a former mistress who worked on his staff and sued him after he threatened her job when she tried to end the relationship.

Mahoney, D-Fla., also called for the probe into his own activities.

Former and current staff aides made the claims to ABC News on Monday. Mahoney won his congressional seat in 2006 after Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican, was forced to resign in the wake of a scandal involving a congressional page.

"I just learned today about the serious allegations concerning Congressman Tim Mahoney," Pelosi said in a statement. "These charges must be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the House Ethics Committee."

According to ABC News, Mahoney, who is married, started an affair with Patricia Allen while campaigning against Foley on a morality platform. Allen came on to his staff after he won the election in 2006, but when complaints about the alleged affair surfaced, Mahoney moved Allen to the campaign staff, aides told the broadcast network.

ABC reported Allen tried to break off the affair after learning Mahoney was supposedly cheating on her and his wife with other women. In response, he threatened her job, ABC reported.

"You work at my pleasure," Mahoney told Allen in a taped Jan. 20, 2008, telephone call played for Mahoney staffers, ABC reported.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel spoke to Mahoney in early 2007 about his personal conduct, FOX News confirmed Monday. Emanuel formerly headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the panel charged with electing Democrats to Congress.

Oh no, not the House Ethics Committee!

Why, they're the same outfit that "investigated" Charlie Rangel ... and Pelosi did nothing.

Why, it was also the same group that "investigated" William 'The Refrigerator' Jefferson ... and Pelosi did nothing.

I'm sure Mahoney is just quaking in his shoes having to come before the vaunted House Ethics Committee.

What a joke.

Previously.

Irony Alert: Mark Foley's Successor Caught Up in Sex Scandal

A charter member of the Most Ethical Congress Ever joins the pantheon of luminaries along with William 'The Refrigerator' Jefferson and Charles Rangel.

Since the media went 24/7 on Mark Foley in 2006, I wonder how much attention his successor paying off a mistress will get?

Probably very little. After all, as we all know, adultery is a resume enhancer for Democrats.

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.

Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said.

A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement, but said Allen resigned of her own accord and "has not received any special payment from campaign funds."

Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.

Of course, Emanuel should be finding a replacement for the guy, but since Emanuel is another Chicago hack, he'll ignore decency and common sense.

The affair between Mahoney and Allen began, according to the current and former staffers, in 2006 when Mahoney was campaigning for Congress against Foley, promising "a world that is safer, more moral."

At the time, Mahoney's campaign ads featured a picture of him with his wife, Terry, with the line, "Restoring America's Values Begins at Home."
...

Friends of Allen told ABC News that Allen sought to break off the affair when she learned Mahoney was allegedly involved in other extra-marital relationships at the same time.

Her friends say she told them Mahoney threatened that ending the relationship could cost her the job.

"You work at my pleasure," Congressman Mahoney told Allen on a January 20, 2008 telephone call that was recorded and played for Mahoney staffers. ABC News was provided a copy.

"If you do the job that I think you should do, you get to keep your job. Whenever I don't feel like you're doing your job, then you lose your job," Mahoney can be heard telling Allen.

"And guess what? The only person that matters is guess who? Me. You understand that. That is how life really is. That is how it works," Mahoney says on the call.

Sounds like quite the bully. A perfect Democrat.

Listen here to the bully fire his mistress.

More from The Hill.

Mahoney is involved in one of the toughest reelection campaigns in the country, thanks to the conservative bent of his south-central Florida district.

He defeated state Rep. Joe Negron (R) in 2006, thanks in part to the fact that Foley’s name couldn’t be removed from the ballot. In order to vote for Negron, people had to check Foley.

Were Mahoney to decide not to seek reelection, Democrats could be in the same situation as Republicans were two years ago, unable to remove him from the ballot. Foley announced he wouldn’t seek reelection at the end of September.

Mahoney’s 2008 challenger, Republican Tom Rooney, will be holding a press conference with National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) at 9:15 a.m. EST on Tuesday morning.

Republicans need to wrap this one around the necks of Pelosi and Emanuel. They knew the guy was screwing around and did nothing, just as Republicans took the fall for looking the other way with Foley.

I wonder if the Palm Beach Post is reconsidering their endorsement?

Still more here.

Just to emphasize the hypocrisy, the affair began when he was running against Foley.


Ed Morrissey has some thoughts.

That makes Mahoney’s problems all the worse. Voters might be able to forgive an affair; after all, they did with Bill Clinton. If Mahoney insults their intelligence by denying obvious reality, he may soon find himself with a lot more time to pursue “faith and family,” and might want to see if Mark Foley has any lines open on a private-sector job.

Update: Well, what do you know. A blogger had this story three weeks ago.

Where was the rest of the media since then?

Dem Critics Grasp at Straws at GOP Seizes Iraq Initiative

Pandering to the the impatient nutroots has clearly been a disastrous strategy for the Democrats, as they're now mired with an alltime low approval rating with no clear prospects for improvement.

Their leadership, the inept Nancy Pelosi and the bumbling Harry Reid, have been invisible for weeks while some Democrats have grown to realize that the course we're on in Iraq has markedly improved.

Granted, regardless of what General David Petraeus reports in September, many Democrat will dismiss it out of hand, as they long ago made up their minds that defeat for America is their only hope of retaining power.

Which brings an interesting contrast as clear thinking Democrats (yes, they exist) have "recalibrated" their strategy and have come on board with the realistic approach currently taken by the administration.

Momentum Shifting To GOP In Iraq Debate

With congressional Democrats still groping for a unified Iraq withdrawal strategy, the eyewitness reports from individual Democratic lawmakers who've recently visited Iraq appear to have changed the dynamic in the debate over the war. The Kansas City Star's "The Buzz," for example, reports Democratic Rep. Brian Baird "saw enough progress on the ground that he will no longer vote for binding withdrawal timelines." Rep. Jerry McNerney "suggested that his trip to Iraq made him more flexible in his search for a bipartisan accord on the war." Also changing his tune is Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, who says the troop increase 'has really made a difference and really has gotten al-Qaida on their heels.'" As the Washington Post says this morning, "Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with...Bush on the Iraq war." Instead, "Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face of recent positive signs on the security front, increasingly focusing their criticisms on what those military gains have not achieved: reconciliation among Iraq's diverse political factions."

Republican leaders and Administration officials are looking on with interest at the newly found Democratic support for the troop surge. A GOP congressional aide tells the Political Bulletin, "We think it is interesting to hear Democrats reluctantly admitting that the surge has been a tactical success. It's fascinating considering the ride they've been on since January and that all Democrats in Congress voted to condemn the surge in one form or fashion." Republicans are speculating that with the recent drop in blockbuster attacks and American troop deaths in Iraq, the Democrats are a bit concerned that pushing for an immediate withdrawal might appear defeatist.

Read the rest.

Of course, Baird, Mahoney and McNerney aren't exactly household names; nor should you expect them to be, since the media is generally ignoring them.

Which brings us to the pathetic John Murtha. Increasingly irrational and out of touch with reality, the buffoonish bully from Pennsylvania, rather than confront reality and get with the program, what does he do?

He contributes another piece to the House Organ of Hate, The HuffPost.

The American People will not Accept Patience

Murtha recites some numbers, but provides no references to back any of it up. He just declares that Americans have no patience, but offers no solutions.

He panders to a niche audience of far left kooks who have no clue, no strategy, no understanding of what really is happening in Iraq.

But they hate Bush and really, nothing else matters. Instead of listening to Democrats who recently have returned from Iraq, they give voice to and promote and angry man consumed by rage, a man whose past military experience is null and void in today's world. In sum, a man nobody in their right mind should pay any attention to.