We should all pray that Tom DeLay does NOT resign

[quaoar]

I don't think he'd ever resign -- he's too arrogant and drunk with power -- unless he was pushed out.

But what a disaster it would be if DeLay actually did resign.

Tom DeLay is going to be the centerpiece of the campaign to take back Congress. He is the poster child of corruption, arrogance and hubris -- the perfect symbol of Republican rule.

Every Democrat running for Congress in 2006 should be preparing ads right now with DeLay's smug face on it. A number of ads are already running.

One possible scenario is that House Republicans see this coming and try to put as much distance between themselves and DeLay as possible -- including, if necessary, throwing him into the volcano to appease the gods.

[Colorado Blue]

1. Although there is wisdom to what you say, the image of

Republicans throwing Tom Delay into a Volcano is simply delicious:)

Mount St. Helens, anyone?

[AntiCoup2K4]

10. Hell no!

I don't want the fumes from his burning corpse polluting my state!

[Colorado Blue]

17. Good point. Might have to find one on another planet:)

[atommom]

19. Cool! Let's pick one out of the latest photos...

I think we have a good selection right here in our own Solar System.

[Colorado Blue]

21. This is a very good reason to get the space program going

again:)

My Senators are quite sympatico, perhaps we should write?

[atommom]

22. Great idea! And IIRC, Bush did say he wanted to go to Mars...

:D

[Colorado Blue]

28. Ah ha!!! Mars it is. Shall we write directly to Mr. Bush?

[BlueIris]

30. As long as it's St. Helen's. Stone's throw from my house.

I could go watch.

[Merlot]

2. If he resigns, will he still be indicted?

I'm looking forward to all the dirty politics being brought to the forefront. If he resignes, will it still be pursued? Will the media even care?

I say make him stay.

[atommom]

3. Don't the Volcano Gods demand purity in their sacrificial humans?

[Warpy]

4. Delay needs to be pushed out ASAP

His bullying is the only thing holding the rotten edifice of GOP solidarity together. He needs to be forced out of his postion as party purse string controller even more than he does out of Congress. He needs to be charged, disgraced, humiliated, and thrown into prison. This is the only thing that will get rid of him, unless god wakes up from his seventh day slumber and nails him with a lightning bolt.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. I agree

Tom DeLay is going to be the centerpiece of the campaign to take back Congress. He is the poster child of corruption, arrogance and hubris -- the perfect symbol of Republican rule.

That is exactly why I think he'll be gone and soon. The GOP needs to toss DeLay in the memory hole at the earliest opportunity.

The best thing that can happen to the Republicans is that DeLay will resign from Congress, plead guilty to one Mickey Mouse count of extortion, do a short stretch in a minimum security federal pen and quietly return to his pest extermination business.

[noamnety]

6. I want him to resign

You see him staying as keeping a symbol of corruption arrogance and hubris in office for all to see.

I see the same thing - but I interpret it as a sign that they can do whatever they want and keep their jobs, there is no accountability no matter how corrupt they are.

[cally]

7. Dear Mr. Delay, You are too important for this Democracy!

Please remain in office. You owe it to us. PLEEEASE.:sarcasm:

I agree with you. We have our poster boy for political corruption if he remains in office. I think he will resign but I can always hope.

[zulchzulu]

8. DeLay needs a long, slow death and final loss in 2006

His final swat in the head will be his loss in his 2006 re-election. We need to just let him keep overreaching on issues and further disjointing the Repugs.

Making him resign now just plays better for the Repugs.

[quaoar]

11. And if he resigned now

Some other Republican would take his seat in a special election.

We can win the 22nd District in Texas.

[BlueManDude]

9. The GOP facade of invincibility must be cracked - I want DeLay out.

[Mutley]

12. I'm on the fence on this...

On one hand I would love to see Delay tossed out on his ass...

On the other hand I agree with quaoar that Delay could help the Dems win back some seats in Congress...

I will need to ponder this for awhile...

[Avalux]

13. He won't ever resign

Are you kidding? His ego won't allow it. I'd like to see an indictment and calls for his resignation but then his refusal and subsequent implosion. I want him to be dragged kicking and screaming from the House floor against his will.

[Old and In the Way]

14. Lose-Lose

Either they keep DeLay and he becomes the poster boy for corruption and the need for Congressional change in 2006, or

They shitcan him, admitting his corruption/ethics problems, jumpstarting an internal war amongst Republicans along pro/anti DeLay lines.

It's all good.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Does the general public even know who Delay is????

I'm not sure the general electorate even knows who their own Congressman is, let alone who Delay is. Sure he's an easy target, and maybe all Dems running should have his mug in their ads, but will it make any difference? Will it confuse? Will he be mistaken for candidate X's opponent in the minds of the woefully uninformed (thanks MSM!) voter?

[Mz Pip]

18. Here in lies the problem

Not everyone is as hyper political as we are. I seriously believe that it the general public really was paying attention Kerry would have one by a landslide.

His district will have to vote him out and as long as he brings home the bacon they won't. Although his popularity is slipping it hasn't slipped as much as it should have given the seriousness of his dealings.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[K-W]

16. I would rather see him leave, thank you.

I think a struggle for power in the party will be better for the dems than Delay riding this out and engineering another win.

[Bleacher Creature]

20. Absolutely agree

His final demise (politically) needs to be that he's swept out of office in the election that returns the Dems to power in the House.

It's too much to even think about.

[LaPera]

23. What difference does any of it make??? Fucking asleep at the wheel!

The republicans own, operate and maintain all the electronic voting machines in this country.

The republicans count the votes...Get it, YET?

They've been cheating with their machines for the past seven years, at least, and each election they cheat and steal even more...

And as we all sit here and talk about policy, personalities, issues, this and that...Even more electronic voting machines are being put into place, quietly, all across this country...

And in 2006 the republicans will get those last five senate seats to stop Democratic filibusters, They will keep control of the congress, because the republicans count the votes, no paper trail, no examining of the machines, no media coverage.

So keep talking about what might be...what difference will it make? Next year we will all be yelling & screaming about the election and the cheating and manipulation. No one will listen. It will be too late, this election too will just pass right on along, and then on to 2008.

The republicans love us talking about the polls and discussing possible candidates, etc...keeps us focused on thinking, WE JUST MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE...But when it comes down to it they know the machines will steal each House and Senate race they want and need.

They've been doing it right in our faces and we're still talking about how we might control congress...Let's all get fucking real!

And people will continue to post nonsense and just ignore the obvious.

And we have the nerve to accuse the republican voters, of hiding their heads in the sand.

[loudsue]

25. Absolutely agree, LaPera. And the Dems are complacent

They haven't learned to go for the jugular like the slimey republicans do, and chances are, they wouldn't use Delay's corruption in their campaigns, anyway.

Campaigns seem to be the ONLY time Dems have the voice of the media, and even then, the media edits out the parts that would really hit home with the people.

But as long as the republicans control the voting process and the machines, there IS NO ELECTION!! It's just a computerized enabling of more take-overs, and THEY KNOW IT!

Until there is a revolution over the voting machines, NOTHING is going to get better in this country. Talking about "the next election" should be proceeded with: "when the republican's voting machines decide who will be in office in 2006"......

It is exhasperating that so many people just keep talking like this is business as usual concerning elections. THEY JUST DON'T GET IT!!

:kick:

[Lexingtonian]

24. it's already being done

The DCCC plan is to "nationalize" Tom DeLay in '06. Chances are there will be convictions, indictments, and plea bargains coming out of Texas to keep the game happenin'.

Yes, the prospects are good that DeLay will ultimately retire/resign before the election. Despite all the noise and efforts, or pretense of effort, to save him.

But you have to consider the context. The Republican margin in the House is just about exactly the relative advantage they have in gerrymandered seats- about 15- plus the relative advantage they have in incumbents party-mismatched relative to their districts- about 15. So the whole margin exists due to gerrymandering and incumbency.

The problem for them is that (1) their 2002 partisan gerrymanders are getting unsafe very quickly in swing states, and (2) their incumbents in party-mismatched or swing districts are getting unwilling to hang on for the good of the Party, feeling the electorate swing against the Party and to a lesser degree themselves, getting aged, and so on- they want out. It's all a lot more fragile than their 2002 and 2004 margin gains- just about all at the cost of Blue Dog Democrats- suggest.

Republicans are in dilemma imposed by the way DeLay was so good at knocking out and turning Blue Dog Democrats. He was/is the center of their survival strategy as a majority in the House as the country trends away from them. Maybe keeping DeLay on sinks them, but it may be that kicking DeLay out sinks them. Their margin is that precarious, the national political scene so difficult to assess, that it's not easy to figure out. Right now they're doing the safest and easiest thing- keeping him on.

Personally, I think it's all rearranging the deck chairs on a melting ice floe. It doesn't actually matter, their situation is defined by the solid slippage of the electorate against them (rather than emotional stuff) and the way they are boxed in by their policy choices and history. Tom DeLay epitomizes their policy choices and history either way- that conservative 'principle' is always just sloganeering, conservative rule (as Disraeli famously said) at best hypocrisy and deceit.

[quaoar]

26. The Texas gerrymandering that DeLay engineered

may explode in his face.

In order to create more Republican districts, DeLay added parts of Democratic Galveston County to his own district, figuring he had such a big cushion he could afford to dilute his vote a little and make an adjoining district more Republican-leaning.

Now that he is sinking like a stone in the polls, thos Galveston Democrats might make the difference in that district.

[Lexingtonian]

27. could well be

But go have a look at his numbers- there are a number of articles about polling in his district over on DailyKos. His older district was only ~5% more Republican, iirc.

38% support in his presently ~58% or 60% Republican district means only the crazies and Republican hardcore really support him anymore- and it's hard to imagine even his supporters do so with any positive motivations, those numbers mean they're doing it out of defensiveness or ignorance or malice or Lesser Evilism. I don't think he has bottomed out yet, either.

I've heard Texas Democrats assert that the court case is proceeding such that the re-redistricting appears to them to be overturned sometime within the next year. I don't think it actually matters for DeLay personally, though- I'm pretty sure things are headed so far into the cellar pollingwise during the next year that he'll resign or retire.

What's far more important, far beyond anything involving his district, is to extend the damage into the Texas Republican delegation and state party and beyond Texas. Basically, this business- properly extended- has the potential of splitting off the simpleminded moderate Republican and Republican-leaning Independent vote from the GOP in the South and Midwest, making those people genuine swing voters and the GOP hopeless nationally. That's a 5%-10% electorate swing.

[quaoar]

29. That's the idea --

-- to use DeLay to nationalize the election.

We need someone to personify the evil that is the Bush junta. And Tom DeLay is perfect for the job.

Gingrich took over Congress in 1994 by nationalizing the election. And the campaign they ran with their "Contract With America" was far less persuasive than the one we are looking at.