Local Reynolds Headline Roundup - "Rep. Reynolds squirms"

Crossposted at RochesterTurning

Sure, this story is huge at the national level, but how's it playing in Peoria?  Wait a minute, we ARE Peoria!  So let's do a roundup of local headlines and take the pulse.

On to the roundup!  Please keep your head and arms inside the roundup at all times. It's going to be a bumpy ride.  Especially if your name begins with Tom, ends with Reynolds, and you represent NY's 26th congressional district.

D&C:

Rep. Reynolds squirms in light of Foley scandal

House member's re-election prospects rated lower

Republican Rep. Tom Reynolds' re-election campaign is being affected by the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, who sent sexually explicit electronic messages to teenagers who had served as congressional pages.

Congressional Quarterly, a nonpartisan newsletter that rates political campaigns, reclassified Reynolds' race from "safe Republican" to "leans Republican" on Monday as Democrats accused the congressman from Clarence, Erie County, of not doing enough after he learned about some of the less explicit e-mails last spring.

The change means that Reynolds -- powerful chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- has gone from "a shoo-in" for re-election to a "likely" winner who could still be vulnerable to an upset victory by Democratic businessman Jack Davis, the newsletter said.

Democrats say they plan to run ads in Reynolds' district about the scandal.

...

Reynolds got one sign of support Monday, when aides to first lady Laura Bush said she will still attend a fundraiser for him Wednesday in Buffalo.

Should be interesting to see the ads when they air.  And shame on Laura Bush.  How can she in good conscience still support Reynolds after what's happened?

And, "squirms". Ouch. That's gotta hurt.

News8Now:

Tom Reynolds under fire

..."I think that it was more important to try to hold on to that seat than to try to protect those children and I am greatly offended by it," says Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter.

Slaughter is furious over the Republicans handling of the email scandal involving Florida Congressman Mark Foley.

"I do believe it was a cover up. They've known for eleven months. The sponsoring congressman said that he went first, I believe, to the clerk of the House and then was sent to Congressman Reynolds. Why they would go to the campaign committee instead of the police I simply don't know. But in addition there was one Democrat on that page board that was never told anything and a woman on the board who was never told anything. It has every indication of a cover up," she says.

Go Louise!  Saying what everyone's thinking.  You gotta love someone who says "I'm mad as a wet hen."

RNews:

Scandal Talk of Reynolds' District

The Mark Foley scandal provided fodder for conversation all over Tom Reynolds' Congressional district.

Many R News spoke with said the scandal will affect how they vote in November. Others say they're not sure what to think about what Reynolds knew and when he knew it.

...

New York State Republican Chairman Steve Minarik said the scandal will, more than anything, give Washington another black eye, but it won't affect the Republicans' chances of winning in November, because the election is more about local issues.

Sure, Steve.  Keep on wishin', and hopin'... He's got to be praying that this won't be the last straw for people to open their eyes to the rampant and systemic lack of morals & ethics of the Republican party. It is, in fact, just the latest of many, many last straws for folks.

WHAM (ABC):

Reynolds: I Went to My Supervisor

(Amherst, N.Y.) -- On Monday night, U.S. Congressman Tom Reynolds (R, NY) defended himself vigorously at a press conference in Western New York saying he did not do anything wrong in the scandal surrounding former Congressman Mark Foley.

...

Reynolds said he did not blame the House leadership for not doing more and he said Democrats are making this a campaign issue.

"If they could politicize the war, if they could politicize homeland security, if they could politicize hurricanes, they could politicize anything," he said.

...

Reynolds, chair of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, has no plans to resign and said he wasn't a high enough leader to follow up on the Foley matter.

Nice. So, in other words it's wrong to politicize accountability. It's wrong to raise a red flag when you see someone not doing all they can to protect kids from sexual predators.

10NBC:

Will Foley scandal impact Reynolds' campaign?

This story includes Rochester-area Congressman Tom Reynolds, who's in the middle of a tough re-election campaign.  Another house member told him about the emails several months ago.

...

Reynolds' office wants it to be clear that he was not aware of the sexually explicit instant messages until they were broadcast Friday.  Still, his name is attached to the scandal, which means it is part of this election campaign.

What do voters think of Tom Reynolds now?  Tim Kneeland, a political science professor at Nazareth College, says the scandal could bring the Reynolds-Davis congressional race down to an issue of trust.  "It might be a national story for the New York Times, but it's going to come down to what the people in Clarence, and Greece and all the towns in between feel about, do they trust Tom Reynolds? Do they trust his version of the story?"

There you go, Steve Minarik.  You want to localize the election?  It doesn't get any more local than that.

FOX Rochester: Nothing on their front page, of course, but they at least had the WROC (CBS) version of the story.

All in all, not pretty.