Foley Fallout

The abrupt resignation of Florida Congressman Mark Foley over inappropriate sexual messages he sent to a 16-year-old Capitol Hill page has set off a firestorm in Washington and on the blogosphere.

It's bound to have political implications, just 5 weeks until election day. Right now, the impact is immeasurable. But some politicos believe the consequences could result in a political earthquake, shaking and reshuffling races nationwide, including here in Missouri.

In addition, since Majority Whip Roy Blunt currently serves in leadership and was interim majority leader for a portion of last year, it's important to know what he knew. There's no evidence so far that Blunt knew anything about Foley's behavior prior to last week.

So in our roundup of the Foley fallout . . . we begin with Rep. Roy Blunt's big denial of being in the know about Foley.

*It comes from the KC Buzz Blog. The headline: Roy Blunt Not Involved in Foley Sex Scandal

*Props to The Turner Report, which has been way ahead of the Foley money trail here in Missouri. On Saturday, Turner revealed Foley had given money to Gov. Blunt. Now Blunt has apparently decided to donate the $1,000 check to charity.

*But Blunt's Speaker may not be safe. Increasing calls from the right for Hastert's head . . . The conservative editorial page of The Washington Times is calling on Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign.

*ABC's Brian Ross is reporting that Republican leadership ignored warning signs of Foley's behavior years ago. In 2005, one page complained about a "sick e-mail" from Foley. That complaint was reportedly passed on to the Speaker. In 2001, pages were reportedly warned to "be careful" with Foley.

*Meanwhile, ABC's political unit ponders how long the unity will last between the G.O.P. leadership over the issue?

*The Liberal Daily Kos is crying foul on the excuse some conservatives are using to defend the G.O.P leadership: "They were afraid to offend gays."

*DRUDGE has dug up a post from ABC's Ross, where he says: "We're hearing quite a bit from former pages. They're sending us all sorts of messages about possible other members." More to come?

*Political Wire reports that Democrats are already drumming up the "parent angle." Bottom line: Dems want every one of their House and Senate candidates to push the Foley scandal to its hilt.

*The New Republic Online speculates about Hastert's future and the impact it could have on Blunt. If Hastert goes down, and Blunt stays squeaky clean, could our Congressman get a bump up in leadership? Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Blunt (after all)?

*The Washington Monthly ponders how the religious conservative base will react to all of this. They have quotes from conservative leaders under their "Evening Foley" headline. Is this big enough to keep some evangelicals home here in the conservative breadbasket, Southwest Missouri?

It's still hard to say what kind of impact this could have in Missouri on the ground. Will voters blindly hold all Republicans accountable, even some who are far removed from all of this? Or will this tawdry tail blow away when the next big "event on the ground" comes to light? Right now, the conventional wisdom is that it seems to have legs . . . Big Ones.