In the final weeks of the 1994 campaign, smelling a rout, Newt Gingrich blamed Democrats for the moral climate that he said led a South Carolina woman to drown her two children. So Republicans can hardly complain about Democrats hammering away at the Mark Foley affair.

Maybe this is the sign that 2006 will be a Democratic year:

• The House Republicans’ leading spokesman against Internet predators turns out to be an Internet predator;

• Worse, the House leadership apparently knew it, but did nothing.

What did the Speaker know and when did he know it?

Will the voters take this as final proof that the Republican leadership is corrupt and morally bankrupt?

Will disgusted conservative voters stay home Election Day?

This is not the October surprise Republicans wanted.

And it all points to a Democratic rout now.

But I’m not counting on it yet.

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