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April 04, 2006
Ding... Dong...
You know the rest of the song, folks.
It looks as if The Hammer has driven his last political nail. Besieged by bad polling numbers, press and a litany of former aides and associates pleadning guilty to crimes, former U.S. House Majority Leader and Sugar Land Congressman Tom DeLay has decided to leave Congress.
In an exclusive interview with Time Magazine and comments on Chris Matthews Hardball, DeLay announced that he will not run for reelection in November, and will step down "within months" from his seat and move to the Washington D.C. area.
DeLay claims polarization in his district had left him with a "50-50" chance of winning reelection, and he didn't want to risk losing the seat for the Republican Party. Perhaps, but in the wake of his former deputy chief of staff turning state's evidence on Friday, maybe his own looming federal indictment was part of the calculation.
No doubt, DeLay's exit from the race makes a GOP hold of the seat decidedly more likely, as CD22 remains a Republican district. The Democratic nominee, Nick Lampson, has lost his best chance to win the seat -- a weakened, tainted incumbent. Still, Lampson is an experienced campaigner who is sitting on $2 million, so don't count him out just yet. Popular Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace has already thrown his hat in the ring on the Republican side.
DeLay, for his part remains defiant and committed to furthering Republican and conservative causes. That's fine, but leading the charge, even outside of Congress, would seem a tall order while fighting two criminal indictments in two jurisdictions, and would be a really neat trick from the confines of a prison cell.
We breathe a sigh of relief at DeLay's resignation. The person who perhaps personified everything wrong with American politics today has been driven out of government, and that's a positive step for this country. Good riddance, Mr. DeLay.
Posted by houtopia at April 4, 2006 12:04 AM