A full-court press is going on now by House Majority Tom DeLay to rally his supports to keep him in office — at the same time as the White House has now seemingly come out behind the embattled GOP leader.
Delay sent out an email to supporters blaming the allegations against him and pressure to step down on liberals, Democrats and the elite media — all seemingly conspiring to bring down the Republican leadership.
In other words, his tacit slogan is “GOP is me.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
WASHINGTON – House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R., Texas) issued a broad denial that he violated any law or House rule in accepting trips abroad, and he implored supporters back home to accept his version of what he called “the real story.”
It was his first detailed written response after weeks of questions about his dealings with lobbyists and handling of ethics matters.
DeLay’s overseas travel, his ties to Washington lobbyists, and political dealings that prompted three admonitions from the House ethics committee last year have received media scrutiny. One question raised has been whether DeLay’s travel was paid for by nonprofit groups or by lobbyists and private interests working through those groups.
In a message e-mailed to supporters in his Houston-area district that was provided to the Washington Post yesterday, DeLay blamed the reports on Democrats, liberal groups, and the “legion of Democrat-friendly press” who were trying to undermine Republican control of Congress.
“It is abundantly clear that their fundamental strategy revolves around attacking me and working to tear down Republican leadership,” he said.
DeLay’s message was titled “What the Press Isn’t Telling You” and covered about six single-spaced pages. In it, he said that his overseas trips were proper and were “properly vetted and undertaken” and that if there were any question about the source of funding for that travel, no member of Congress “should be responsible for deceptive behavior by outside organizations.”
He stressed that he had never been found in violation of any law, and that the three admonitions from the ethics committee did not constitute a “sanction.”
“It would be quite easy to write an entire book about how Democrats, and many in the press, have chosen to selectively report and strategically ignore many FACTS about me and my work as Congressman for the 22d District,” DeLay wrote.
And what about the White House? Less than a week after it seemed as if the White House was discreetly trying to put some distance politely between DeLay and President Bush, Bush’s political alter ego Karl Rove was defending DeLay…and on CNN, to boot:
The White House yesterday stepped up its defense of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, dispatching political strategist Karl Rove to deride Democratic attacks as “drivel.”
“They’re just desperate,” Mr. Rove said of Democrats on CNN. “They’re not offering ideas in the debate, they’re not being constructive, and so some of their members are taking potshots at Tom DeLay.”
The broadside came in response to Republican complaints that President Bush has been too tepid in his defense of Mr. DeLay, the Texas Republican who is being accused by Democrats and the press of ethical lapses.
All of this taken together, plus comments from some Congressional leaders, would suggest that the GOP Powers That Be feel DeLay can weather this storm. All of that assumes that new allegations aren’t coming out.
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.