Just how bad are things for Tom Reynolds, the New York Congressman who chairs the National Republican Campaign Committee? So bad, apparently, that he decided to skip out on his head-to-head appearance with Rahm Emanuel, his Democratic counterpart, on ABC's "This Week", as the AP's Hope Yen reports (hat tip: Crooks and Liars).
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who heads the House Republicans' re-election effort, would have been the chamber's top GOP official on the Sunday talk shows. Booked weeks ago for ABC's "This Week," he confirmed his appearance on Wednesday. By Saturday, his office canceled without explanation and arranged for a substitute guest, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., a network spokeswoman said.A Reynolds spokesman said the New York congressman had flu-like symptoms. Reynolds, whose district covers a stretch of New York between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester, is now trailing his Democratic opponent, Jack Davis, by a 48-33 percent margin, according to a poll conducted by Zogby International for The Buffalo News.
Reynolds has been criticized by Democrats who say he did too little to protect a page from Foley, the Florida Republican who resigned Sept. 29 after the disclosure of his sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage former male pages. Foley is now under investigation by federal and Florida authorities.
Reynolds' retreat comes a day after he went on the air with an ad trying to apologize for his role in the Mark Foley scandal. It also comes on the same day as Zogby polling commissioned by The Buffalo News shows him trailing his Democratic challenger Jack Davis by 15 points, 48 percent to 33 percent. Even if we take the results of the Zogby poll with a grain of salt, which I would tend to recommend, SurveyUSA polling conducted midweek for WGRZ-TV Buffalo showed Davis leading by 5 points, 50 percent to 45 percent.
Whatever the polling shows, it's becoming increasingly clear that Congressman Reynolds' top priority is no longer fighting, perhaps in vain, to retain the Republican majority through his position at the NRCC but rather fighting, perhaps equally in vain, to retain his own seat in the House. Frankly, that fact should have a lot of Republican Congressional candidates very worried.
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