As we’ve been saying. Now the Dems are saying it, in a close race in Ohio. New York Times:

[Mary Jo] Kilroy is using the Foley scandal to try to systematically undercut Ms. [Deborah] Pryce [R-Friend (Beard?) of Mark] with a big component of the Republican base here, Christian conservatives, when Republicans already worried that those voters would stay home on Election Day. “Deborah Pryce’s friend Mark Foley is caught using his position to take advantage of 16-year-old pages,” an announcer says in advertisements the Kilroy campaign has placed on Christian radio stations.

Is it working?

Republican Pryce seems to think so:

But since Mr. Foley quit, she said in an interview on a tense day of campaigning here, her own internal polls have measured a steady drop in support under the weight of attacks by Mary Jo Kilroy, her Democratic opponent.

“I’m totally convinced,” Ms. Pryce said, her voice faint, as she described why her support had declined. “All our polling showed we were going in the right direction until this happened. It fell precipitously.”

Of course, the word of a Republican, and a dime, will get you a cup of coffee. Still, it’s indicative.

In a sign that irony is not merely not dead, but gloriously, fabulously alive, Republican Pryce cries gay-bashing:

Ms. Pryce responded by accusing Ms. Kilroy of gay-baiting. She said in an interview she was hopeful she could win over gay voters in a city long known for a large gay population, particularly because the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy organization, has endorsed both candidates in the race.

(Thanks, Human Rights Campaign, you stupid fucks. What are you, taking lessons from NARAL?)

Except there’s no gay-bashing going on. Go back and read the attack ad:

… using his position to take advantage of …

That’s abuse of power, not sex.

Of course, to a Republican—the id is political—abuse of power is sex, but that’s an argument that’s probably a leetle bit ahead of the curve right now….