Tom DeLay fights for his political life in Texas

[Judi Lynn]

Tom DeLay fights for his political life in Texas
Wed Mar 1, 2006 12:33 PM ET
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

SUGAR LAND, Texas, March 1 (Reuters) - He has been indicted, rebuked and dethroned from his Republican leadership perch, but Tom DeLay's fight for re-election to Congress could be the biggest challenge in a long political career.

DeLay, nicknamed "the Hammer" for the blunt way he wielded power during 22 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been swamped by ethics allegations that have made him a prime Democratic target in November's elections and a national symbol for charges of Republican corruption.

Once one of Washington's most powerful politicians, DeLay is scrambling to fight a Texas legal indictment and hold off challengers from both parties in his House race in the suburbs of Houston.

"You never know how well an election will go for an indicted person," DeLay acknowledged in an interview with Reuters after a recent breakfast with Houston-area realtors.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060301:MTFH71803_2006-03-01_17-34-25_N28176984:1

[AnneD]

1. Love the photo...

Can't tell what I like more, the fuzzy mike or the windswept do. Tom is in deep doo. He has been running more adds that I have seen in a log time. Odd thing is they are against Soros. This has the average viewer scratching there head. Guess he can't run on his record now , but it a few more months, he'll have that record.

[NanceGreggs]

2. Hmmmm ...

"You never know how well an election will go for an indicted person."

I'm sure Republicans are watching to see what happens -- with the number of indictments these days, a lot of them will want to see how a campaign should be handled under those circumstances!

[young_at_heart]

3. Maybe the voters in his district will finally wake up

Hopefully they will stop blindly "going along"!

[Mithras61]

4. He's delusional like W...

"Getting beat up by the national media and the Houston Chronicle has taken its toll," DeLay said, referring to the local newspaper. "It's polarized my district, you either love me or hate me. Thank God there are still more that love me."

My emphasis.

Umm... last poll I saw showed him loosing by nearly 22 points to an un-named Democrat. I haven't seen much lately other than the refusal of several local stations to run libelous ads created by him. I expect that he'll get his head handed to him either in the primaries or (better for us) in the general election in November.

From the second page of the same article:

Polls show DeLay's support has dropped since the indictment and Abramoff publicity, with a USA Today/Gallup poll in December showing him losing to an unnamed Democratic opponent and scoring a favorability rating of just 37 percent.

37% for a sitting pol in his home district is pretty pitiful...

[rodeodance]

5. says he is behind (Dec poll)--losing to an 'unnamed Democrat:

... Polls show DeLay's support has dropped since the indictment and Abramoff publicity, with a USA Today/Gallup poll in December showing him losing to an unnamed Democratic opponent and scoring a favorability rating of just 37 percent.

"I'm bothered by all the investigations and scandals," said Veniece Griffin, a Missouri City Republican who plans to vote for Campbell. "DeLay has had 20 years, and he's not representing me."

DeLay is taking the challenge seriously, hitting the campaign trail hard to tout his ability to win money for the district and reminding audiences of his long service.

At the realtors' breakfast gathering, he recalled his days a pest exterminator in the area. "I crawled under a lot of your houses and through a lot of your attics," DeLay said.

[salin]

7. a "funny" or a threat?

per his crawling under folks houses and through their attics...

[WhiteTara]

6. he can ask James Trafficant about that one n/t