Why did the Right's Mighty Wurlitzer roar to life this week to ask the phony question, "Where's Pelosi"?
To distract attention from the fact that Dennis Hastert is Missing in Action.
Where's Denny? The short answer: (a) as far away as possible from Republicans in close races, and (b) trying to save his own seat in Congress.
More below.
The
LA Times has the story.
Where's Hastert?
Not on the campaign trail. His role in covering up Foley's predatory behavior has made him toxic.
"You don't want to bring controversy into a member's district, someone who has a tough race," Hastert said. "Quite frankly, [Democrats] have been pretty good at nailing us down."
Hastert had planned to do much more campaigning for GOP House candidates, before he became persona non grata:
Before the controversy broke, Hastert planned to make more than 30 trips in October to hotly contested races around the country. The campaign stops for the month totaled fewer than 10 -- a stark contrast for a campaigner who in the last three election cycles has been one of the national Republican Party's most popular headliners.
And its not just his own political toxicity that is keeping him off the campaign trail. He has to stay home to defend his seat against the hard-charging challenge of Fightin' Dem John Laesch.
"You just never want to take a chance, you know," Hastert said, taking a break from his phone calls one day this week. "You just want to win and make sure you have the confidence of the people you represent."
It is a testament to the party's predicament that Hastert, traditionally one of its most popular spokesmen, is tooling around his district in his SUV rather than traversing the country to stump for colleagues in close races.
So now we know why the Wingnuts called in a smear on Pelosi--to preempt the real story: "Where's Denny?"