Inside the Beltway: What goes around

By John McCaslin (Contact) | Thursday, October 16, 2008

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WHAT GOES AROUND

Following up on the latest sex scandal to rock Capitol Hill, Inside the Beltway has reached the conclusion that something must be in the West Palm Beach, Fla., drinking water.

After all, the Florida Democrat who pledged to bring back honesty, values and morals (if indeed they ever existed) to Washington after winning a congressional seat vacated two years ago by disgraced Republican Rep. Mark Foley, is now apologizing to his wife and family over allegations surrounding his own sexual misconduct with one or more women, one of whom he reportedly bribed with $121,000 to keep quiet.

Rep. Tim Mahoney,a 52-year-old former venture capitalist, was running in an uphill campaign against Mr. Foley in 2006 when it was disclosed that the Republican incumbent had written sexually explicit e-mails to teenage boys who had served as congressional pages.

Mr. Foley resigned his seat just over a month before the election. Still, Mr. Mahoney barely defeated a last-minute replacement Republican opponent, Florida state Rep. Joe Negron.

It had been Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus,who hadserved in the Clinton White House, who first summoned Mr. Mahoney to Washington and encouraged him to challenge Mr. Foley.

"It was very West Wing," Mr. Mahoney told the Palm Beach Post of Mr. Emanuel's personal recruitment drive.

Now, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is calling attention to a recent report that the Democratic leader was earlier aware of rumors surrounding Mr. Mahoney's reputed unethical behavior, yet he continued working behind the scenes to get the Floridian re-elected in November.

"The questions here are very simple. What did Rahm Emanuel know and when did he know it?" asked NRCC spokesman Ken Spain, suggesting Mr. Emanuel "was working to hide the truth ... to save Tim Mahoney's political skin."

Speaking on background Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Emanuel confirmed to Inside the Beltway that her boss first "heard the rumors early in 2007" about possible wrongdoing by Mr. Mahoney. But she stressed that Mr. Emanuel "immediately confronted" Mr. Mahoney "and reminded him that he was a public servant holding a public office, and he has a responsibility to act appropriately. They have not discussed it any further since then."

HORSE DOCTOR

Outlining a series of industrywide integrity reforms Wednesday, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced the creation of the Safety and Integrity Alliance, to be headed by former Wisconsin governor and ex-Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson, who ran briefly as a Republican candidate for president in 2008, and hangs his shingle at the Washington law office of Akin Gump, will oversee reforms that include uniform medication rules and penalties for each racing state and a ban of steroids from racing competition.

'CRUNCH' LEADER

Lang Sias, the national director of Veterans for McCain, says there are three basic reasons why he is voting for Sen. John McCain for president in November, the most significant being the Arizona Republican's "element of character."

The other two reasons: the former Vietnam POW's "long history" of supporting veterans' issues and his "strong and principled position on national defense."

A former Navy F-18 pilot and flight instructor at "Top Gun," who served on the ground in Iraq in 2005, Mr. Sias explained to Inside the Beltway that "veterans of all ages see in John McCain the type of leader they respect and aspire to be - in both a military setting and in a leadership position in the White House."

"There is a dramatic contrast with Barack Obama there," said Mr. Sias, whose remarks follow on our interview published Wednesday with Veterans for Obama. "Military people have a very skeptical view of leaders who pat everyone on the back and tell them what they want to hear. Leaders of that category don't tend to be there in the crunch."

Mr. Sias, who continues to serve his country in the Air National Guard, says he is by no means alone in his support for the Republican, pointing to Mr. McCain's endorsements from 21 past national commanders of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

John McCaslin can be reached at 202/636-3284 or jmccaslin@washingtontimes.com.

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