GOP House Leaders Bracing for Leadership Role

Officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee didn’t feel too good after the 2006 mid-term elections, in which Democrats seized control of the House. But they’re feeling a lot better now, Roll Call reports.

Each year a group of these NRCC staffers get together for dinner on Sept. 29, commemorating the day then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned in disgrace for having sent sexually explicit e-mails to a teenage page. The incident played a large role in Republican defeats that year.

The atmosphere at the dinner turned sunny this year. “The Foley dinners of the past might have been about looking into the past. 2010 is about looking forward,” said former Rep. Tom Reynolds (N.Y.), who headed the NRCC in 2006. He now works in government relations at Nixon Peabody law firm.