[Mb-civic] Tide Turning Against DeLay - Washington Post
William Swiggard
swiggard at comcast.net
Sat Jan 7 07:14:46 PST 2006
Tide Turning Against DeLay
Some House Republicans Push for Leadership Elections
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 7, 2006; A04
Rank-and-file House Republicans took the first formal step toward
permanently replacing Rep. Tom DeLay (Tex.) in the House's leadership by
unveiling a petition to hold a special leadership election in the coming
weeks.
The petition -- drafted by moderate Reps. Charles Bass (N.H.) and
Christopher Shays (Conn.) and conservative Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) with
the support of as many as two dozen members -- is the latest blow to
DeLay, who was forced to relinquish his post as majority leader in
September after he was indicted in Texas on campaign finance charges.
DeLay had hoped that case would be resolved in his favor by the end of
January, clearing the way for his return. Instead, it has dragged on
through a series of pretrial maneuvers.
Then this week, lobbyist and DeLay ally Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to
charges of public corruption and conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with
federal investigators in what promises to be one of the largest federal
bribery scandals in decades. Abramoff's guilty plea includes multiple
references to the actions of Tony C. Rudy -- while he was DeLay's deputy
chief of staff -- on Abramoff's behalf.
DeLay has repeatedly asserted that the charges in Texas are a
politically inspired vendetta by a Democratic prosecutor, Ronnie Earle,
and that he has nothing to fear from the Abramoff probe, with which he
says he has cooperated fully.
In recent days, however, prominent Republicans have begun counseling
DeLay that he should renounce claims to the majority leader's post, for
the good of the party and for the good of his long-term political
career, leadership aides and DeLay allies said this week.
"People are worried about the other shoe waiting to drop," Flake said
yesterday. "Fairly or not," he said, DeLay has "become the public face
of a culture gone bad in Washington."
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) yesterday did not try to tamp
down the movement toward an election. Since DeLay's late-September
indictments, House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) has also served as
temporary majority leader, but Hastert promised that this arrangement
would not go on indefinitely. The leadership structure was supposed to
be restored with DeLay's return, not an election.
That is now shifting.
"This is consistent with what the speaker has said, that this would only
be a temporary structure and that it would be revisited at the beginning
of the year," Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said of the election petition.
Under House Republican Conference rules, the signatures of 50 members
would force the convening of a special election conclave. A majority of
those present would then have to move for an election.
Since last month, Blunt has planned to ask House Republicans to elect
him to DeLay's majority leader post permanently, if, as is now almost
certain, DeLay cannot clear his name in the campaign finance and
corruption probes by early February, a House leadership member said. The
new petition will probably mean a leadership election will be called
well before then, perhaps in a few days, Flake said.
"Jack Abramoff's guilty plea and his close association with Tom DeLay
underscore the need for a new majority leader in the Republican Party,"
Shays said in a statement yesterday. "It is time we make it clear that
ethics are an essential part of how we do business and our leadership
needs to reflect this strong ethical conduct."
DeLay remains defiant, refusing to grant what he sees as a victory to
Earle, the Travis County prosecutor.
"Mr. DeLay appreciates that a majority of his colleagues recognize he
remains committed to fulfilling his responsibilities as majority leader
as soon as he's exonerated in Texas and won't give in to what is
essentially character assassination by insinuation," DeLay spokesman
Kevin Madden said.
But privately, even DeLay aides and supporters acknowledge that time is
running out on a comeback. Nearly half a dozen members have called for
an election, including Shays, Flake, Bass, and Reps. Ray LaHood (Ill.)
and John Kline (Minn.). As many as 30 members are ready to sign the
election petition now, said a lobbyist close to DeLay, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
And momentum is building. Flake said he doubts 50 will have to come
forward. As early as this weekend, DeLay will renounce his claims to his
old post, and leaders will call for an election, Flake said.
That could set off a leadership scramble, as Republicans seek to
assemble a new team that can better weather the storms developing around
the Abramoff scandal and the recent bribery guilty plea and resignation
of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (Calif.). Blunt is expected to be
challenged by Rep. John A. Boehner (Ohio), but other candidates are
likely to emerge.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010601763.html?nav=hcmodule
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