UPDATE: Democrats.com thinks Rove is behind the attacks on DeLay, I think they're likely right.
The Washington Post reports on a major plan by GOP House Members and the right wing allies to save Tom DeLay. They are going on the offensive:
Allies and friends of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) have concluded that public attention to his ethics is unlikely to abate for months to come, and they plan to try to preserve his power by launching an aggressive media strategy and calling in favors from prominent conservative leaders, according to Republicans participating in the strategy sessions.Good. Strategize away. Keep putting DeLay out there. Make him a bigger name then he is. Tie him to the Congress and the Right Wing Nutball agenda.
The Republicans said the strategy combines leaks from DeLay allies about questionable Democratic trips and financial matters; denunciations of unfavorable news stories as biased, orchestrated rehashes; and swift, organized responses to journalists' inquiries.
The resistance was launched two weeks ago when DeLay flew back to Washington from Texas during Easter recess to speak to a group of about 30 conservative leaders who had gathered in the conference room of the Family Research Council for a call to arms on his behalf.
DeLay's plan, according to the Post, "is trying to lock in support by sowing the message that an attack on him is an attack on the conservative movement, and that taking him out would be the Democrats' first step toward regaining control of the House and Senate." The more time the GOP and their nuts spend defending DeLay, the less time they have to enact their agenda. And, the more attention they focus on DeLay, the more of a symbol he becomes for the Republican's corrupt leadership which is bankrupting America.
I go back to Lindsay Graham's quote in the Washington Post last week:
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) says Democrats suffered major setbacks in the 1990s when an ethics-challenged leader -- House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), who resigned in 1989 -- became a larger symbol of his party than its platform issues. "That's a cocktail for disaster," Graham said. If a political leader's personal problems are coupled with "some policy decisions that are disconnected to the public, then you've got an opening" for trouble, he said. "If we don't watch it, it could happen to us."If the GOP wants DeLay to be their symbol, Americablog will do our part. We want EVERYONE to know about DeLay's ethical history and his crazy agenda.
