Does Tom DeLay have no shame? DON’T ANSWER THAT. The Hill reports:
Conservative leaders are crafting plans to launch a public campaign to defend House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).The move follows a meeting last week among DeLay, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the chief deputy majority whip, and nearly two dozen conservative leaders, including David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Morton Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute; and Edwin Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation.
Perkins, Keene and Feulner called the meeting, according to participants.
“It was a rallying cry to our conservative community that we are under assault. We need to fight back. We’re going to have a challenging year with the judicial issue bubbling up in the senate and the impact it may have on our ability to get things done,� said Cantor, who said he described to the group how Democrats and liberal groups have waged a coordinated battle to raise doubts about DeLay’s conduct.
Of course, they’re not mentioning the Republicans — including one who was dumped from a committee since he dared criticize the man who will either succeed in solidifying the GOP’s base or scaring centrists away and damaging the party for years — who have expressed doubts about DeLay’s conduct, which would appear to be at the very least ethically challenged.
The question is: will the GOP rank and file, GOP libertarian conservatives and others, agree with DeLay that he IS the GOP and their future is at stake if he is not in his seat?
OR will the GOP rank and file, and GOP libertarian conservatives, look around and realize: “Hey, this party has LOTS of talent — including people who may have national futures if they’re just groomed by being allowed to step up into leadership positions…including one leadership position now held by someone who has more question marks around him than a quiz show contestant.”
According to the Hill:
What is going on, conservatives say, is a coordinated effort by liberals and Democrats to tarnish DeLay’s name to oust him as majority leader and regain control of the House. Keene and others want conservative groups to communicate that to their members and to have their members relay the message to GOP lawmakers who represent them.
“This is not about Democrats; it’s about Republicans,� Keene said.
After several participants at the meeting said they would help, DeLay said he hoped the others would, too, according to one person there who spoke anonymously to avoid angering his fellow conservatives.
DeLay reportedly added that it would be “really nice if some calls would originate from you guys into members’ districts letting them know� why they should tell their representatives to support him.
Are they lining up to drink some Kool Aid left over from a killer party thrown by Jim Jones some years ago? Will ethics questions be equated with mere partisanship if Democrats raise them or with party disloyalty if a GOPer dares to see this emperor without his clothes (we shudder at that thought..).
UPDATE: Great Minds Think Alike Department as Howard Fineman also sees DeLay as frantically clawing his way to maintain his political status — and survival:
WASHINGTON – A new drama of survival has begun here – political, not physical; legal, not spiritual. The central character isn’t a woman in a hospital bed but a controversial Republican leader in the House of Representatives. Rep. Tom DeLay may not want to admit it to himself, but he’s fighting for his political life.
I wouldn’t have said so two weeks ago. But I’ve seen enough of these dramas unfold to know when I’m watching a new one, and now I am. You know the story line, which dates back to the Greeks: a powerful, hubristic leader is brought low by his own flaws. Think Jim Wright, Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton.
Here are Fineman’s “nut graphs” in this Newsweek piece:
By melodramatically linking his own destiny with that of Terri Schiavo, DeLay didn’t help himself. He made himself look vulnerable and scared – which is all his enemies needed to convince themselves to step up their attacks. If you want to watch a passion play, fine. But don’t cast yourself in the lead.
This is a city dedicated to ambition, but also to the occasional ritual (and largely ineffective) cleansing. The goal of the truly power-hungry is to find new routes to the top without antagonizing a critical mass of the trampled and the angry. DeLay succeeded for quite some time; that time might be about to end. True, Republicans control both chambers of Congress. But just because DeLay won’t be subpoenaed to testify on the Hill doesn’t mean he is safe.
Fineman also recounts the Democrats’ disarray means that they feel its easier to focus on DeLay than on Bush. So does mean DeLay’s attempt (as we note above) to cast attacks on him and allegations surrounding him as strictly partisan will work — and that Bush will stick by him? Fineman basically says: Don’t hold your breath for that to happen:
Relations between the president and DeLay have never been particularly warm – Texas isn’t quite big enough for the both of them. Bush and Karl Rove have been careful to cultivate him over the years, of course, and they have made common cause since Bush first started running for governor in 1993. Bush likes to delegate the tough stuff – to people like DeLay and Rove – but they are still hired help. And you can always fire the help.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.