Reynolds Sinking In The West. Poll Shows Foley Scandal Hurting Buffalo-area Pol

Western New York Congressman Tom Reynolds is clearly suffering from the fallout of the Foley e-mail sex scandal.

In a poll released today by the Buffalo News, the Republican incumbent in New York's 26th Congressional District trails his Democratic challenger Jack Davis 48% to 33% in a poll of likely voters done by Zogby for the newspaper.

Some 57% said they disapprove of the way Reynolds handled the Foley affair, which he claims to have brought to the attention of House Speaker Dennis Hastert in the spring. Twenty-five percent said they approve of Reynolds' handling of the situation.

Fifty percent of those polled said they view Reynolds less favorably since the scandal broke 10 days or so ago. Some 51% rate Reynolds job performance as fair or poor and only 32% said they think the head of the Republican congressional campaign committee should be re-elected.

Reynolds cancelled an appearance today on ABC's This Week With George Stephanapolous, saying he was under the weather. He was to have appeared with Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

NEWSWEEK POLL SHOWS GOP LAGS IN "FAMILY VALUES"

The Foley affair is clearly having a negative affect on the GOP nationally as well, as borne out by results of a poll to be published in tomorrow's edition of Newsweek.

Here's a quick exceprt from the poll showing some key developments:

For the first time since 2001, the NEWSWEEK poll shows that more Americans trust the Democrats than the GOP on moral values and the war on terror.

Fully 53%of Americans want the Democrats to win control of Congress next month, including 10% of Republicans, compared to just 35% who want the GOP to retain power.

If the election were held today, 51% of likely voters would vote for the Democrat in their district versus 39% who would vote for the Republican.