As a Republican political operative in South Florida, I knew Mark Foley and some of his Congressional and campaign crew. I've had drinks with the man (I had a drink, I don't remember if he did) at the 2004 Palm Beach County election night party, and I know his sister Donna, who is, um... was his political director. Donna is a friend of mine and is someone I have great respect for. It is a shame that she may also be one of the victims of Mark Foley's indefensible behavior.
When I moved to Florida after college, I moved almost directly on the border of two Congressional Districts: District 22, Rep. E. Clay Shaw's district; and District 16, Former Rep. Mark Foley's district. I was drawn to Foley immediately. In him I saw an excellent amalgam of both sides of the political aisle.
I spent a lot of time studying Mark Foley's congressional record. Every day for a month, I would wake up and start reading print outs of press articles, legislation, voting records, anything I could get into my head regarding Mark Foley. The more I read, the more I liked the guy.
For me, as a young, middle of the political road kid aspiring to begin a career in politics, I couldn't hope to work for a better politician. Mark Foley was as popular a Congressman as they come. I quickly saw the benefit in working for a guy I assumed had a long political career ahead of him. He was so popular in South Florida, in fact, that his popularity was why I eventually wasn't hired by his campaign. The fact is, he simply didn't even need to campaign in 2004. His opponent, Jeff Fisher, didn't stand a chance; Foley took nearly 70% of the vote in the otherwise contentious 2004 election. What was there not to like?
Mark Foley was a gay, pro-choice Republican with a solid history of defending children. But his popularity was mostly limited to South Florida. That was largely because it was fairly well-known that he was gay. It was certainly no secret. He always refused to talk about his sexual orientation, because it shouldn't have been an important issue. He was like Michael Stipe from R.E.M. before enough rumors nudged him out of the closet. Those of us with half-a-foot in the door of Florida politics privately deemed it likely that his sexual orientation was the reason he had dropped out of the 2004 Senate race, and not entirely because of his father's battle with cancer, which was the only reason he provided -- essentially that he had reason to believe that it was going to come out. You see, while South Florida was fine with a gay Republican, the rest of the state was not cool with homosexuals whatsoever. In Florida, the further north you go, the further south you get - I think the South Beach Gaydar is much more finely tuned than it is in Tallahassee too.
After my attempt to get hired by the Foley campaign floundered, I found better luck in the reelection campaign for Rep. Clay Shaw, who hired me as Director of Grassroots Operations. I spoke with many Democrats and Republicans in South Florida during that time. It seemed that in his own district there was a great affinity towards Mark Foley that went far beyond party affiliation. Today this is certainly not the case, nor should it be. Regardless, behind Mark Foley's perversion and deceit was an effective and reputable house member, and given the number of congressmen who are terrible at being congressmen, it's a shame that this had to come from one who wasn't.
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