The Note: Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda, Part III

— -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 3

Continue to watch today for Republican calls for Hastert's (and others) resignation. Aside from the high-profile Washington Times editorial calling for Hastert's head, there are other lower profile activists doing the same and the papers are full of conservative quotes expressing concern about how the Foley scandal may cause a depressed GOP turnout in November as conservatives may decide to stay home. The Wall Street Journal, Rush, Hannity, and others are sticking by Hastert, for now.

And/but ABC News' Teddy Davis reports, "In a radio interview with 700 WLW radio in Cincinnati, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) placed responsibility for the Foley matter not being handled properly on House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

"I believe I talked to the Speaker and he told me it had been taken care of," said Boehner. "And, and, and my position is it's in his corner, it's his responsibility. The Clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board -- all report to the Speaker. And I believed it had been dealt with."

Note that by saying that he talked with the Speaker about Foley, Boehner is reversing course and going back to his original position.

On Friday, Boehner told the Washington Post that he "had learned in late spring of inappropriate e-mails Foley sent to the page, a boy from Louisiana, and that he promptly told Hastert, who appeared to know already of the concerns. Hours later, Boehner contacted The Post to say he could not be sure he had spoken with Hastert." LINK

According to today's radio interview, Boehner has gone back to saying that he did talk to Hastert about Foley.

ABC News' Mark Halperin reports a senior Republican House aide familiar with Boehner's thinking when asked if Boehner was throwing the Speaker under the bus said, "No. He is doing his best to relay the facts as to what he knew and when. The truth contained within those facts is our best defense."

Halperin also reports one Republican strategist tells The Note, "I think reporters are beginning to look at who had these IMs and why didn't they come forward with them. Its offense from here on out from us. Making the case that we never knew about the IMs and are outraged by them and want a full investigation. I can't help but wonder if some Ds had this info and only used it politically."

Many Democratic candidates will continue to demand that Republicans get rid of their Foley money and join them in their calls for resignations of leaders who did not do enough to investigate Foley.

The Foley story still continues to dominate most of the political coverage in regional papers across the country, keeping the scandal on the front-burner for many congressional campaigns.

We will also be on the lookout for sound from President Bush and Vice President Cheney who are both on the campaign trail today. The President would clearly rather leave this issue to this colleagues on the Hill, but a presidential remark smacking down Foley and the GOP leadership's handling of the affair (that one is more likely to be a gentle slap than a smack) may help Republican candidates turn the corner.

President Bush attends a campaign reception for Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium in Stockton, CA at 12:15 pm ET. Mr. Bush then heads north for a campaign reception for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) at the Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills, CA. The President's last stop today will be at a Republican National Committee reception at 9:05 pm ET in Los Angeles, CA.

Vice President Cheney speaks at a 2:05 pm ET luncheon for Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) in San Antonio, TX. Cheney then speaks at a 7:00 pm ET reception for congressional candidate Van Taylor in Dallas, TX.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman attends the Los Angeles, CA fundraising reception with President Bush this evening. As of this writing, Mehlman has no plans to do any press today.

Tomorrow, First Lady Laura Bush campaigns for Rep. Reynolds in his suburban Buffalo district, and then separately participates in a local radio program about youth issues, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) campaigns for the Ohio Democratic Party in Columbus, OH.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) appears at a "Women for Webb" fundraising luncheon at 12:30 pm ET at Le Bergerie in Alexandria, VA for Democratic Senate candidate Jim Webb.

Check below for some other political goings on today.

Foley: calls for Hastert to resign:
The usually Republican-friendly editorial page of the Washington Times calls on Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to resign his post. LINK

From the editorial on Hastert: "Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. . . Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance."

The Washington Times ed board suggests replacing Hastert with retiring Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) for the three months remaining in this Congress and to oversee a "full and exhaustive" investigation.

Speaker Hastert's spokesman Ron Bonjean issued this statement in response: "The Speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress. Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The Speaker is working everyday on ensuring the House is a safe, productive environment for Members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution."

The Washington Post reports, "David Bossie, who runs a group called Citizens United, called yesterday for Hastert's resignation and said other conservative leaders are likely to follow suit." LINK

The New York Sun's Gerstein has Family Research Council's Tony Perkins' comments to CNN that the Foley affair will be "very harmful for Republican turnout across the country." LINK

The New York Times' Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny write that Speaker Hastert faced increasing scrutiny over the Republican Party's response to the Foley scandal. Also of Note,"officials said that several pages who had received electronic messages from Mr. Foley had already been located," suggesting there are other pages who may step forward. LINK

"The October surprise came early this election year," write Bloomberg's Catherine Dodge and Jay Newton-Small. LINK

Roberta Combs, head of the Christian Coalition, expresses disappointment with Foley and the GOP's House leadership while Tom McClusky of the Family Research Center, says: "If more is found out, that's when I think people should start calling for his head."

Hastert's home state paper, the Chicago Tribune, wraps the Speaker's presser and asks why Rep. Boehner suggested to Rep. Alexander that the Foley matter be referred to Rep. Reynolds. LINK

USA Today: LINK

The Kansas City Star reports that Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) spokesman Burso Snyder said "The first time Cong. Blunt heard anything about the Foley matter was Thursday of last week when ABC broke the story" and that "no leadership meetings" were held on the issue, but rather some "one-on-one conversations among members." LINK

Foley: political fallout:
ABC News' Mark Halperin on "Good Morning America" on the Foley story: "They're terrified," he said of Republicans. "The election before was balanced perfectly no one knew which way it was going to go. It's all going one way right now. Republicans are now in danger because of this scandal with older voters, with female voters, with religious voters - that makes up a lot of people who are going to be in this election. It's big trouble and Dennis Hastert, as you just reported in the news, may face pressure today to resign from other quarters . It's a big problem and it's growing, it's not shrinking -