Almost all analyses of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's communications problems focused on how he responded to the Mark Foley situation once it occurred.
But his difficulties truly stemmed from a blunder he made years earlier when he decided not to establish his own presence and image. As a result, rather than being able to deal with the Foley crisis, Hastert was defined by it.
Some of this is understandable. Hastert rose to prominence when Newt Gingrich - one of the most identifiable ...