Well, this is a surprise to just about everyone working on the issue. I'm glad to see this, but think we got damn lucky on this one. The Democrats simply did NOT launch a big PR campaign on this, so I'm still a bit confused as to why the Republicans caved, unless they just got too much bad publicity the first time around when they said Delay could keep his post even if he gets indicted. The Dems could have gotten a lot more blood out of the Republicans on this. This whole thing isn't quite making sense to me. There just wasn't the outcry, in my view, to warrant the Republicans backing down. So why did they? Or did they?
House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury.
The surprise dual decisions were made by Speaker Dennis Hastert and by DeLay — who asked GOP colleagues too undo the extreme act of loyalty they handed him in November. Then, Republicans changed a party rule so DeLay could retain his leadership post if indicted by the grand jury in Austin that charged three of the Texas Republican's associates.
