Yesterday's Washington Post piece by Jonathan Weisman [http://www.washingtonpost.com/...]
carries with it massive implications regarding former Congressman Mark Foley's predatory actions.

It may also be the harbinger of the end of Sue Kelly's political career.

It states, for all intents and purposes, that at least one member of the Page Board (there are only two or three on it at any given time), if not more, knew what Foley was up to more than six years ago! While Jim Kolbe is not seeking re-election, Sue Kelly is. And, depending upon how this plays in the press over the next couple of days, it may even force her to withdraw from the race in NY-19 before November 7th.

The article demonstrates that she is--at the very least--grossly negligent and incompetent. And, perhaps, very much incriminated by this latest revelation (if Kolbe communicated with her at the time). Instead, Sunday, perhaps before she even knew the LA Times piece was out, she called for the public to not pass judgement on Denny Hastert [http://www.midhudsonnews.com/...]
until the Ethics Committee's investigation is concluded. Whether she's right or wrong, as far as she's concerned, the facts NOW do allow the public to pass judgement on her.

For those who believed that the Mark Foley scandal would not continue to have legs through this next week let alone until election day, perhaps it's time to think again.

In an explosive article on the front page of Monday's issue of The Washington Post, Jonathan Weisman reports that six years ago a longtime Republican Congressmen knew of instant messages -- potentially sexually explicit ones -- sent from Mark Foley to a page,

A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline.

The revelation pushes back by at least five years the date when a member of Congress has acknowledged learning of Foley's behavior with former pages. A timeline issued by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) suggested that the first lawmakers to know, Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), became aware of "over-friendly" e-mails only last fall. It also expands the universe of players in the drama beyond members, either in leadership or on the page board.

A source with direct knowledge of Kolbe's involvement said the messages shared with Kolbe were sexually explicit, and he read the contents to The Washington Post under the condition that they not be reprinted. But Cline denied the source's characterization, saying only that the messages had made the former page feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she said, "corrective action" was taken. Cline said she has not yet determined whether that action went beyond Kolbe's confrontation with Foley.

In interviews with The Post last week, multiple pages identified Kolbe as a close friend and personal confidante who was one of the only members of Congress to take any interest in them. A former page himself, Kolbe offered to mentor pages and kept in touch with some of them after they left the program, according to the interviews.

This story throws a large wrench into the Republican tactic of attempting to blame the Democrats for the Foley scandal. Some of the nuttier GOP Congressmen and party allies have taken to the airwaves questioning whether the Democrats had any prior knowledge of IMs between Foley and male pages. Of course this insinuation is patently false but, no matter, most reporters have dutifully passed it on to their readers and viewers. Yet now, with an actual report of the fact that at least one Republican Congressman knew of these IMs six years ago, we have further proof that it was the Republicans who were sitting on the story -- not the Democrats.

At worst, this revelation will keep the Foley story on the front page for another few days, which cannot help the Republicans as they attempt to regain their footing. But this story also has the potential to expose these Republicans for what they are: cynics who care little about the truth -- or the safety and well-being of minors in their custody. And at a time when the GOP is struggling among married mothers and even their conservative Christian base, this is terrible news for the party.

In 2004 Rep. Jim Kolbe, a moderate Republican who represents Southeastern Arizona, narrowly defeated conservative state Rep. Randy Graf in the GOP primary. If the latter name rings a bell, perhaps you saw Ed Helms' Daily Show expose on Graf's effort to allow firearms in venues that sell alcohol and you recall the state Representative's likening of the United States Constitution to a book of golf rules.

Facing the specter of another primary challenge by Graf, who has already spent close to $30,000 on the race, Kolbe has opted to retire. The AP's Paul Davenport has the story.

The Phoenix Business Journal's Mike Sunnucks takes a gander at the possible candidates for the seat.

Short of a Graf win in the GOP primary, the Democrats might have had a difficult time winning in Arizona's eight congressional district before Kolbe's retirement announcement even though President Bush only carried the district with 53 percent of the vote in 2004 and 49 percent in 2000. But today's news offers the Democrats a solid pick up opportunity that could put Nancy Pelosi one step closer to the Speaker's chair in the 110th Congress.

Democrats are quick to note that this is "a race we can win." The eighth district contains a portion of Tucson, a city in which Democrats forcefully gained control of power during the local elections earlier this month. What's more, with the popular Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano leading the ticket next fall, Dems say they should be able to win in the eighth district next year.