Paul Kiel October 10, 2006, 9:20 AM

The Foley scandal has caused a rash of scheduling conflicts, it appears. The two figures most tainted by the scandal, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and NRCC Chairman Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), had been scheduled to come campaign for Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA), who’s been having a tough campaign this year, in part because he allegedly tried to strangle his ex-mistress (he’s admitted the affair, denied the strangling).

Things just didn’t work out. But it has nothing to do with Foley. Not for Hastert:

Jake O’Donnell, a spokesman for Sherwood, said Monday that an Oct. 18 event with Hastert was only tentatively scheduled and was canceled mostly because Sherwood had another major event the next day.

And not for Reynolds:

“When asked why the Reynolds appearance was canceled, [O’Donnell] said, ‘It is mostly about the travel schedule, but there is that other issue.’

Wait. “That other issue?” Now I’m confused. Reynolds’ spokesman clears things up:

NRCC spokesman Ed Patru said Reynolds had events in his own district that led him to drop out of the Sherwood fundraiser.

“Mr. O’Donnell is not in a position to know why the event was canceled,” Patru said. “He was clearly out of the loop on this one.”

So there. Nothing to do with Foley.

Dennis Hastert, Mark Foley