The Foley scandal didn't hurt the GOP but that's exactly why the GOP is hurt.

Follow the logic of the NYT's Andrew Kohut:

Surprisingly, after all the headlines and prurient melodrama over Mark Foley, national polls indicate that the scandal did not change voter opinion very much. Yes, some surveys found respondents saying it made them less likely to vote Republican, and others found that the G.O.P. leadership got low marks for the way it handled the problem. But the needle has not moved very much on the Congressional election’s bottom line – voting intentions.

If you are rooting for the G.O.P., you might find that comforting, but beware, because it suggests voter attitudes are so locked in that they are not likely to be easily swayed in any direction. And if the polls do not change, the Republican party is going to take it on the chin come Election Day.

Get it? The scandal didn't change things, which means things aren't changeable, and since the GOP needs some change to win, it's going to lose.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Karl's confident.