The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has some good coverage on the political fallout of the Mark Foley scandal. The disgraced ex-congressman’s seat is now seen as essentially a gimme for Democrats, since Foley’s name must remain on the ballot — and convincing folks to vote for Foley, even if the votes go to his replacement, is a big challenge.
[Local GOP County Chairman Bob] Starr said Republicans will have to convince people to vote for the disgraced Foley with the idea that the vote will count toward a candidate not on the ballot.
“It’s going to be very difficult to do,” Starr said. . . .
Regardless of who the replacement is, [political expert Larry] Sabato said the party will have a hard time convincing people to vote for Foley to keep the seat in Republicans hands.
“I’d say it’s near impossible,” Sabato said. “Who’s going to want to do that?”
The paper notes that Foley’s is the third GOP House seat in the Florida delegation that’s newly within reach of Democrats.
