Republicans are on the verge of losing their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, as scandals ensnare more members and polls show support slipping to the Democrats.

One recent poll conducted by ABC News and The Washington Post suggested the Democrats hold a 54-41 per cent lead among registered and likely voters, just a few weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections.

According to ABC News, that's the most significant Democratic lead in more than 20 years.

The top scandal remains Florida Rep. Mark Foley's salacious e-mails and chats allegedly sent to teenage congressional assistants. Sen. John Kerry, who may make another run for president in 2008, likened the Republican reaction to the party's continued support of the Iraq war.

"They tell us we're making progress in Iraq and that there is no civil war. That is a lie," he said during fundraising dinner in New Hampshire. "There is a civil war and it is costing American and Iraqi lives every single day, and we must change course in Iraq."

He said that Republicans are also lying when they try to blame the page scandal on Democrats.

"This issue is here because of a Republican cover-up," said Kerry. "And those from the party that preaches moral values that covered this up have no right to preach moral values anymore."

In the latest scandals to hit Republicans this week:

Shays dismisses torture at Abu Ghraib as 'sex ring'

Shays says 'It was torture because sex abuse is torture.' (image: shaysforcongress.org)

Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, in a tight race with Diane Farrell to keep his seat in Connecticut, struggled to refute an earlier claim made during a debate that Abu Ghraib prisoners were not tortured.

"It was torture because sex abuse is torture," Shays clarified to The Associated Press on Friday.

In a debate earlier this week, the representative had dismissed the scandal as a "sex ring" started by the National Guard.

"It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from (Maryland) who were involved in a sex ring, and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked," Shays said during a debate.

"And they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn't torture."

The Maryland troops, from the 372nd Military Police Company, are actually part of an Army Reserve Unit, not the National Guard.

At least 11 U.S. soldiers so far have been convicted in the Abu Ghraib case. In 2003, detainees at the notorious Baghdad prison were told to remove their clothes and sexually humiliated. Images of the abuse were released to the media.

On Friday, Shays told AP he wished he had been able to fully explain his views -- based on the images he had seen -- during the debate.

"I was maybe not as expansive as I needed to be," he said. "Of course, the degrading of anyone is torture. We need to deal with it."

Shays earlier came under fire when he dismissed the Foley scandal by saying no one had died, unlike in 1969 when Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy was involved in a car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne.

Diane Farrell has posted her rival's Abu Ghraib comments on her campaign website Farrell for Congress, along with two advertisements that denounce his support of the Iraq war.

Shays has responded with posting ads on his own site, Shays for Congress, saying he does not involve himself with "partisan politics." The latest ad features quotes from apparent Democrats from Farrell's hometown, who say they will vote for Shays because he "works across party lines."

Abramoff scandal grows

Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements connected to Abramoff. (image:ney.house.gov)

Aside from the Foley case, another major concern among Republicans is the growing Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation. The Republican lobbyist pleaded guilty in January.

On Friday, the latest Republican swept up in the scandal was Rep. Bob Ney, who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements connected to Abramoff. Republican leaders responded by saying he would be removed from the House by Nov. 7 -- unless he resigns first.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but the Justice Department has recommended the Ohio Republican serve just 27 months, according to AP. His sentencing is set for Jan. 19.

Ney admitted to Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle that he had used campaign donations from Abramoff for personal expenses like meals and trips, in exchange for helping Abramoff's clients in an official capacity.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Ney's illegal actions were "not a reflection of the Republican Party."

Other officials caught up in the scandal include:

• Former White House official David Safavian, convicted of covering up his illegal involvement with Abramoff. He faces sentencing on Oct. 27.
• Former Interior Department official Roger Stillwell, who pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor charge. He failed to report that Abramoff gave him tickets to football games and concerts.

Charles Taylor demands apology from Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal alleges Rep. Charles Taylor has used his capacity as a congressman to profit his own business interests. (image: charlestaylor.house.gov)

Rep. Charles Taylor, a wealthy Republican banker who represents a district in North Carolina, has used his capacity as a congressman to profit his own business interests, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

"The Republican lawmaker is one of at least a half-dozen House members whose public actions in directing special-interest spending known as earmarks have also benefited their private interests or those of business partners, according to congressional, corporate and real-estate records," said the newspaper.

As one example, the report cited US$11.4 million Taylor added to a federal transportation bill that widened Highway 19 through an area of North Carolina.

Taylor owns thousands of acres near the highway, and already created a subdivision called Maggie Valley Leisure Estates in the area before the bill was approved, according to The Journal.

But Taylor has dismissed the article as being riddled with errors, arguing that he owns no property in the area, and counted 15 statements in total he said were untrue.

With files from The Associated Press