WASHINGTON - Usually out front in force, national Democrats expressed outrage over the Mark Foley scandal and its aftermath but largely let their candidates and allied groups do the tough talking.

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Party leaders showed restraint as Republicans beat up each other amid accusations of a less-than-agressive initial response into flirtatious e-mails the GOP congressman sent to teenage male pages.

"There's no need for Democrats to drive this," said James Ruvolo, a former state Democratic Party chairman in Ohio, a state with hard-fought House and Senate races.

Foley abruptly resigned last week as reports surfaced of sexually explicit instant messages he had written to boys, setting off infighting among House Republicans about whether they did enough to address the tawdry situation.

The scandal continued to unfold Wednesday when Kirk Fordham resigned as chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., and later disclosed that he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office more than three years ago about worrisome conduct by Foley. Hastert's office swiftly denied the accusation.

In the minority, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are known for setting the tone for their rank-and-file by hammering Republicans on the issue of the day, even when Congress is not in session.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean have issued a handful of written statements. The topics: Congress has a moral obligation to protect children, Republican leaders covered up Foley's behavior and investigations are warranted.

For the most part, the leaders have avoided commenting publicly. Pelosi, D-Calif., has been the exception. She introduced a resolution on the House floor Friday and has spoken about the scandal when asked at public events on other issues.

Also largely absent from the daily discourse on Foley — the seemingly ever-present Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., who lead the party's campaign committees. It's rare for the pair to turn down an opportunity to add their two cents.

If Democrats go too far, "they run the risk of doing what the Republicans are already guilty of, which is worrying more about what the political ramifications are instead of about the fact that what happened, happened," said Ken Snyder, a Democratic consultant in Pennsylvania, home to several competitive House and Senate races.

So, Democrats have sought to strike a balance — emphasizing the protection of children, expressing disgust at Foley's behavior, and criticizing Republicans' response to it while trying not to be overly aggressive. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have not called for Hastert's resignation.

Nevertheless, Democratic leadership staffs are active behind the scenes, working to keep the media aware of the latest developments in the scandal and pointing out inconsistencies in Republican versions of events.

The GOP has started accusing the opposition party of seeking political gain by leaking Foley's e-mails and instant messages. "It's absolutely not true," Pelosi says.

"The Democrats have to be awful careful not to overplay this," Rep. Tom Cole (news, bio, voting record), a Republican from Oklahoma, said. "I don't think the defenders of Bill Clinton and Gerry Studds can all of a sudden become the moral paradigms on Capitol Hill. They run the risk of looking hypocritical."

The two Democrats were scarred by sex scandals.

Of Democrats in general, Cole said: "If I were them, I would stay out of it and let the media focus on it ... You can always count on the Democrats to overreach."

Outside Washington, Democratic congressional candidates are seizing on the scandal to argue that voters should put them in charge of the House and Senate on Nov. 7. Democrats need to gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to win control.

Several Democrats in competitive races have called for Hastert to resign — and challenged their Republican opponents to do the same — while accusing the highest rungs of the GOP leadership of putting political interests above all else.

Republican leaders maintain they did nothing wrong.

Patty Wetterling, a Democrat running for an open House seat in Minnesota, is airing a hard-hitting television ad charging that Republicans "knowingly ignored the welfare of children to protect their own power."

A candidate whose son disappeared 17 years ago, Wetterling will deliver the Democratic response to President Bush's radio address on Saturday. Her address will focus on protecting children, including Internet safety.

In the meantime, Democratic allies also are pressuring Republicans.

American Family Voices, an independent nonprofit group run by a former aide to President Clinton, made recorded phone calls Tuesday and Wednesday to voters in congressional districts of 50 Republican incumbents, including Rep. John Boehner (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio and others in tough congressional races, demanding resignations of Hastert and other leaders.

"Congressman Mark Foley was shielded by Republican leaders for at least nine months after they knew Foley was trying to seduce a 16 year-old boy, a congressional page," the recorded calls say. "Call Congressman (name of member and phone number) and demand he stop the cover-up. The answer is arrests, resignations and a new congressional leadership"

Another pro-Democratic group, FaithfulDemocrats.com, collected signatures from 29 members of the clergy on a letter calling for the "repentance and resignation of all members of Congress who knew about Mr. Foley's misdeeds yet failed to stop them."

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Liz Sidoti covers politics for The Associated Press.