Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

by Jonathan Singer, Sun Oct 08, 2006 at 01:13:26 PM EDT

Just how bad are things for Tom Reynolds, the New York Congressman who chairs the National Republican Campaign Committee? So bad, apparently, that he decided to skip out on his head-to-head appearance with Rahm Emanuel, his Democratic counterpart, on ABC's "This Week", as the AP's Hope Yen reports (hat tip: Crooks and Liars).

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who heads the House Republicans' re-election effort, would have been the chamber's top GOP official on the Sunday talk shows. Booked weeks ago for ABC's "This Week," he confirmed his appearance on Wednesday. By Saturday, his office canceled without explanation and arranged for a substitute guest, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., a network spokeswoman said.
A Reynolds spokesman said the New York congressman had flu-like symptoms. Reynolds, whose district covers a stretch of New York between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester, is now trailing his Democratic opponent, Jack Davis, by a 48-33 percent margin, according to a poll conducted by Zogby International for The Buffalo News.
Reynolds has been criticized by Democrats who say he did too little to protect a page from Foley, the Florida Republican who resigned Sept. 29 after the disclosure of his sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage former male pages. Foley is now under investigation by federal and Florida authorities.

Reynolds' retreat comes a day after he went on the air with an ad trying to apologize for his role in the Mark Foley scandal. It also comes on the same day as Zogby polling commissioned by The Buffalo News shows him trailing his Democratic challenger Jack Davis by 15 points, 48 percent to 33 percent. Even if we take the results of the Zogby poll with a grain of salt, which I would tend to recommend, SurveyUSA polling conducted midweek for WGRZ-TV Buffalo showed Davis leading by 5 points, 50 percent to 45 percent.

Whatever the polling shows, it's becoming increasingly clear that Congressman Reynolds' top priority is no longer fighting, perhaps in vain, to retain the Republican majority through his position at the NRCC but rather fighting, perhaps equally in vain, to retain his own seat in the House. Frankly, that fact should have a lot of Republican Congressional candidates very worried.

Tags: Jack Davis, Mark Foley, NY-26, Tom Reynolds (all tags)

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

Will the generic polling pick up this week, or did it at the end of last week?

by Robert P 2006-10-08 02:18PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

Maybe his inaction is making him as sick as the rest of us. Mental and physical health are linked after all...

by Sandwich Repairman 2006-10-08 02:35PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

Wait, you mean that a Republican feeling dizzy and woozy was due to a flu, and not due to one of 12 other causes?

by RBH 2006-10-08 02:45PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

This is all the more reason to focus on the many districts in New York and Pennsylvania that we can turn blue. Negative publicity on Reynolds, Don Sherwood & Randy Kuhl to name a few is all over the Buffalo, Rochester & Scranton media cluster.

by howardpark 2006-10-08 03:12PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

flee-like symptoms

by miriamsong 2006-10-08 05:19PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

Have the re-election races for Hastert, Boehner, Shimkus, and the rest of the unindicted co-conspirators been polled recently? It would be interesting to see the extent of the damage. Hastert, in particular, should be toast by now.

by KTinOhio 2006-10-08 07:01PM | 0 recs

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Re: Reynolds a No-Show on "This Week"

One of the likely effects of the GOP recent tailspin over the Foley scandal is that it is probably shattering the belief in many voters' minds that current GOP incumbents, including perhaps even the most well-known and entrenched of them, have a lock on their seats and that the very thought of them being defeated or stepping down is unthinkabkle.

I suspect that many voters vote for their incumbents not so much because they're very enthusiastic about them, but out of this resigned sense of inevitability, especially with incumbents who have become fixtures in their districts or states.

Now, with this scandal breaking wide open and one incumbent already out and several more on the ropes, I suspect that these same voters might well vote for the Democratic candidate, if they believe that in this election he or she might actually have a chance to win.

This would be in addition to voters who will switch from Repub to Dem out of disgust with the GOP and/or or the GOP candidate, and wingnut and fundie voters who will simply stay home out of disgust. But all three together, in addition to the now increased likelihood that traditional Dem voters will turn out in droves now that many realize that we have an excellent chance of retaking congress and that their votes will not be in vain, could well lead to a massive tidal wave of Democratic wins that even the most optimistic of us never dreamed possible.

I'm increasingly inclined to believe that this may well be the case. Still, there's still just over 4 weeks to go, so I'm keeping the champagne on ice for now.

by kovie 2006-10-08 10:10PM | 0 recs