UPDATE: The Washington Post documents more fundraising victims.
Senators and congressmen are running from the Foley scandal like the plague, and it's causing havoc for GOP fundraising events. To wit, from the DCCC:
Citing Scheduling Conflicts McCain Canceled Two Fundraising Events in Reynolds’ District. Sen. John McCain “scrubbed” two of the three fundraising events he had planed to attend in embattled Congressmen Thomas Reynolds’ district. McCain cited a scheduling conflict for the cancellations; which came only a day after a Reynolds spokesmen told reporters McCain would be attending the events. The Reynolds campaign team was surprised by the abrupt change. For one of the events, a black tie dinner for the Erie County Republican party, Karl Rove will act as a stand in. [Buffalo News, 10/11/06]
Citing Scheduling Conflicts GOP Rep. Sherwood Cancels Fundraisers with Both Reynolds and Hastert. “Don Sherwood's campaign has canceled fundraising appearances by House Speaker Dennis Hastert and U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds, fellow Republicans embattled over their handling of the congressional page scandal. Sherwood spokesman Jake O'Donnell said the cancellations were related to the scandal ‘to a degree.’ But Reynolds also had a scheduling conflict, O'Donnell said, and Hastert's Oct. 18 appearance had been scheduled one day before another, unnamed ‘big event.’” [Wilkes Barre Times Leader, 10/10/06]
Hastert’s Scheduling Conflict Cited for the Cancellation of Fundraiser for GOP Rep. Sweeney. Beleaguered House Speaker Dennis Hastert has backed out of a big-bucks fund-raiser in New York City, according to Republican aides. Hastert, an Illinois Republican who is a fund-raising powerhouse for his party, had been scheduled to headline an event… for upstate Rep. John Sweeney, according to Sweeney's staff. But Hastert - who has been consumed by the scandal over ex-Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit e-mails to congressional pages - begged off, Sweeney's top aide told the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘The speaker had a scheduling conflict and will not attend...’ Sweeney deputy chief-of-staff Melissa Carlson told The Post. [The New York Post, 10/9/06]
Citing a Scheduling Conflict, Hastert Was Replaced As Keynote for Fundraiser for Bob Ney’s Old Seat. “Hastert was scheduled to speak at a $250-a-couple fundraiser for state Sen. Joy Padgett, who replaced Bob Ney as the Republican candidate for the district. Hastert canceled the trip, citing schedule conflicts, and Padgett's campaign substituted Ohio Sen. George V. Voinovich. The switch had nothing to do with the Foley scandal, a Padgett representative said.” [Columbus Dispatch, 10/5/06]
GOP Rep. Ron Lewis Canceled Hastert Fundraiser. Representative Ron Lewis, a seven-term Kentucky Republican, canceled a fund-raiser he had scheduled with Hastert. Lewis said he wanted to know all the facts behind the scandal before deciding whether to campaign with Hastert by his side. [Boston Globe, 10/5/06]
GOP Rep. Gerlach Canceled Fundraiser with Boehner. “In Pennsylvania, embattled Rep. Jim Gerlach, a Republican, canceled a scheduled fundraiser with House Majority Leader John Boehner until more was known about who in the leadership knew what about the Foley messages, and when.” [St. Petersburg Times, 10/5/06]
