Foley Interest Fades; Did Scandal Tip Public Opinion?

Traffic data from Alexa for a major Democratic blog and a minor blog that spent a lot of time covering the Foley scandal suggests that interest in the topic has already faded. Traffic to both sites saw an upswing when the scandal broke, peaked in the middle of last week and has now returned to a baseline value.

While public curiosity has waned, the most recent polls of likely voters by CNN and USA Today/Gallup, showed dramatic gains by Democrats on a generic ballot, where they are now favored by 21% and 23%, respectively. Both polls were conducted from October 6-8 and represented a gain of about 10 points for Democrats, compared to September polls by each agency.

What that might mean for the November elections is anyone's guess at this point. Even if the polls stick, it is unclear how they will translate into individual races, some of which are so close that a change of only a few points could determine the outcome. By the weekend, the political fallout from the scandal may be clearer.