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Dennis Hastert has pledged to stay on as Speaker and even run for the Speaker post again in the new congress in January. According to members of Congress and a Republican activist in contact with Hastert, the speaker fells that if he were to resign, the succession battle would be awfully bloody and add further injury the GOP's image. Hastert asserts John Boehner, who is next in line, faces his own set of questions in the Foley scandal and has given conflicting accounts of what he knew and did. Hastert is apparently convinced the allegations of a republican leadership cover-up are going to stick around through the election anyway. So, "for the good of the party" Hastert feels its better to make it clear to all republicans that he is not going anywhere and unify GOP leadership behind the old tried and true defense strategy of blame the media and blame the democrats.According to internal polling data from a prominent GOP pollster, "House Republican candidates will suffer massive losses if House Speaker Dennis Hastert remains speaker until Election Day, according to a Fox News report. The Fox News source says: "The data suggests Americans have bailed on the speaker. And the difference could be between a 20-seat loss and 50-seat loss." The source described the pollster who did the survey as 'authoritative,' and said once the numbers are presented, it 'could change the focus' on whether the speaker remains in power."
Even in the face of such polling data, Dennis Hastert pledges "for the good of the party" to stay on as speaker and run for the speaker post again in the new congress. For the good of the party? Maybe not!
The phrase most often heard around Hastert's Chicago area 14th District in recent days is "Denny Hastert should be returned to Congress this November, because having the Speaker of the House represent our district provides heavy-duty benefits for Illinois that his junior Democratic challenger, John Laesch, never can." For Hastert, this is his best "local issues focus" argument for re-election. Without the "Speaker of the House can best represent our district" augment to tout in local media, Hastert knows his re-election fight against Democratic challenger, John Laesch, would be a lot tougher in the post Foley-scandal election atmosphere.
Political handicapper Charlie Cook now lists 25 GOP-held seats as a tossup -- seven more than before the Foley scandal broke Sept. 29. Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan expert on House races, has raised to nine the number of GOP seats tilting Democratic or likely to switch hands.
If Republicans lose control of the House, Hastert will shoulder much of blame for his handling of the Foley scandal. Win or lose (control of the House) Hastert's fellow Republicans may harbor post-election feelings that he clung to the Speaker's title to save his own re-election bid at the expense of rank and file Republican House members.
If Hastert does win re-election to a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, his fellow Republicans will likely be in no mood to give him any significant roll in their "majority party" leadership structure. And, if Hastert wins re-election to a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, his fellow Republicans will likely be Loath to vote him any roll period in their "minority party" leadership structure.
In either case, Hastert will have less than no power to do good for his 14th District. He will not only have done a great disservice to his party, but also to his 14th District.
