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January 02, 2008
Bye Bye Chuck
Live by the sword, die by the sword - that's the old saying. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, who often engaged in bare-knuckle political combat from his prosecutor's perch had to fall on his sword last night. Rosenthal abruptly withdrew his name from seeking reelection as District Attorney in 2008, just hours after defiantly claiming he would run again despite unanimous calls for his resignation from local Republican party leadership.
Turns out Chuck, who loved to go after Democratic officeholders, particularly those of the non-Anglo variety, on minor offenses, got caught in a little mess of his own making -- "accidentally" deleting 2,000 emails relevant to a civil rights lawsuit, some of which included romantic pronouncements to his secretary, who is not his wife. Whoops. See, Chuck had already admitted to an affair with the assistant during a previous marriage, but since then he had found Jesus again and was walking the straight and narrow path, albeit with a new wife. What is it about Republicans and this stuff?
What surprised us was how quickly and decisively the local GOP brass cut his legs off after the story broke. By unanimously declaring he should resign and refusing to support him, party leadership put him in a politically untenable position. This swift action suggests to us that Harris County Republicans know they have one helluva fight on their hands to retain control of the county in 2008, and with ethical problems plaguing the party at every turn, were simply unwilling to bear Rosenthal's burden on the countywide ticket. Fitting that Chuck should have to bite the bullet for the same petty crap he pulled on local Democrats. How's it feel?
A very interesting beginning to what promises to be a very interesting year. Next the Iowa caucuses.
Posted by houtopia at January 2, 2008 08:59 PM
Comments
Turns out Chuck, who loved to go after Democratic officeholders, particularly those of the non-Anglo variety, on minor offenses,
Which instances did you have in mind?
I'm not trying to be argumentative -- I'm just curious.
What surprised us was how quickly and decisively the local GOP brass cut his legs off after the story broke.
No doubt, although it was still clumsy.
Posted by: kevin whited at January 4, 2008 09:29 AM
Bradford, Alvarado and Aiyer come immediately to mind.
Posted by: houtopia at January 4, 2008 08:53 PM
I don't think that Aiyer's tampering with campaign finance documents was a minor matter, although maybe a lot of that goes on and I'm just naive about it.
Interestingly, Rosenthal's alleged tampering with emails is potentially no minor matter either (although we'll have to wait on the facts to emerge before knowing for sure).
It's amazing how quickly political careers can head to the toilet over seemingly minor matters and lapses in judgment.
Posted by: kevin whited at January 6, 2008 08:30 AM
Casey's column today certainly offers some interesting context.
Sorry so slow publishing comments -- just buried finishing a report today. Finally finished!
Cheers.
Posted by: houtopia at January 6, 2008 09:05 PM