Republicans Struggle With North Korea and the Foley Scandal

Oct. 9, 2006 — -- Just when Republicans wondered whether anything could get the nation's attention off the Foley sex scandal, they got some unexpected, unsolicited, unwanted and unintended help from -- of all people -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The Pyongyang government's announcement that it had exploded an atomic weapon dominated the news after more than a week of the media reporting daily on former Rep. Mark Foley's contacts with pages and former pages and how the GOP leadership had dealt with him.

Although political pros disagreed widely over how much damage the Foley factor had caused, all agreed on one thing: It was bad news for Republicans.

On Sunday night, the Washington Post reported that as far back as 2000, a Republican congressman, Jim Kolbe from Arizona, had known of Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges and had confronted him.

The impact of the Post report may have been diminished because it came just as North Korea made its startling announcement.

But a new ABC News/Washington Post poll confirms that Republicans have taken a beating recently. The poll suggests voters are putting more faith in Democrats on what voters say are the top issues: Iraq, terrorism, the economy, immigration, health care and ethics in government.

Most observers don't believe Kim Jong Il was trying to ease the political woes of President Bush and his party. Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy specialist at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, believes he was trying to hurt GOP chances in the election.

But O'Hanlon said the North Korean detonation will have the opposite effect and will help President Bush "by validating his hardline approach."

Now that the North Koreans have exploded what may be a nuclear weapon, O'Hanlon believes many Americans will decide that Bush's refusal to engage in direct talks was the right approach, and that nothing could have deterred North Korea from its nuclear ambitions.

O'Hanlon, who disagreed with Bush's stance, said it would now be harder for those who, like himself, believe the United States should negotiate "one on one" with North Korea.

News of the explosion has also diverted much of the media's attention from the GOP's handling of the Foley affair. Even if a sharp, partisan debate should develop over policy on North Korea, it is a debate Republicans much prefer to a slugfest over the page scandal.