Posted on 06/21/2004 9:05:06 PM PDT by nypokerface
Taking a page out of the Gipper’s political playbook, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is reminding his colleagues of Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.
DeLay delivered that message during a recent private meeting with Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who has gotten into hot water with a few of his colleagues for setting up a political action committee that has attacked them on immigration policies.
Tancredo’s PAC, Team America, is immersed in today’s Utah Republican primary, backing Rep. Chris Cannon’s (R) challenger, former state Rep. Matt Throckmorton.
The PAC also has plans to target Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) who is facing a primary challenge from state House Majority Whip Randy Graf. The immigration-reform group has targeted both politicians because they support lenient policies for illegal immigrants.
DeLay’s message: Play nice with your Republican colleagues or you’re going to remain stuck in your lowly committee positions.
The prospect of internecine warfare is becoming a growing concern among House Republicans. The subject came up for discussion at a recent meeting of the chamber’s committee chairmen, which DeLay chairs weekly.
Anxiety over Republicans working against fellow Republicans also bubbled up at a recent meeting of the Tuesday Group, a coalition of more than 30 centrist House Republicans who meet regularly.
Privately, some centrists have also expressed concern over plans announced last week by a group of House conservatives to become more involved in Republican primaries. However, the conservatives say they are focusing on Senate races and have no plans to help candidates running against their left-leaning Republican colleagues.
“Generally, I try to discourage members from working against each other,” DeLay said in an interview with The Hill. “It doesn’t help the comity within our conference or our ability to maintain a team spirit. If there are occasions where that happens, I try to get personally involved and solve the conduct.”
DeLay said after meeting recently with a colleague to discuss an intra-caucus dispute, “It was resolved.”
Carlos Espinosa, Tancredo’s spokesman, said, “It was a pretty short discussion, and they both came out chums.”
Tancredo created the PAC this spring but said he has severed his ties with it and has no influence over whom the organization campaigns against.
“The PAC would have greater leeway to do what it needed to do if I was not formally associated with it,” Tancredo said. “It’s not my PAC, so I have no control over it.”
But the group’s website raises questions about that assertion.
For example, Tancredo is listed prominently and in several places on the site as the group’s founding chairman.
The group also solicits contributions in Tancredo’s name.
“Your contribution is critical to helping Congressman Tom Tancredo and Team America elect to Congress people with the courage to change our disastrous immigration and border policies,” read a solicitation form. “Tom Tancredo can’t do it alone, he needs your help right now — let him know you are willing to stand with him in this battle!”
The site also urges volunteers to join “Tancredo’s Troops.”
“Listed below are several opportunities for all of our members to become personally involved in building our organization and helping Congressman Tom Tancredo,” stated a volunteer enlistment form on the site.
But Angela “Bay” Buchanan, the sister of former Reform Party presidential nominee Pat Buchanan and chairman of the group, said, “We still call it his PAC. He’s the founder, so we use his name on the website.”
“He conceived it,” she added. “[But] he’s not officially involved. He makes no decisions. He has no idea what I’m doing most of the time.”
Buchanan said that Team America is “extremely involved” in the primary race for Cannon’s seat. She said the PAC has given a $1,000 contribution to Throckmorton and raised most of the candidate’s radio advertising money, and has raised money for newspaper ads promoting him. Buchanan also helped produce some of Throckmorton’s ads.
She said the PAC sent letters to supporters soliciting funds for Throckmorton and bundled contributions from them.
Buchanan said she has also promised to do a “major fundraiser” in Washington for Graf, who is challenging Kolbe.
Cannon’s campaign spokeswoman, Meghan Riding, noted that Tancredo is still listed as the founding chairman on the Team America PAC’s Web page, which she said “is devoted to blasting Congressman Cannon.”
Kolbe, whose primary is scheduled for September, downplayed Tancredo’s role:
“There are always concerns about what other members are doing.”
“It’s just internal — intramural politics,” he added.
However, other members have been more outspoken about the prospect of House Republicans working to defeat their GOP colleagues in primaries.
Rep. Charles Bass, a centrist Republican from New Hampshire, said that at a recent meeting of centrist, “one member wanted us to bring to the attention of the leadership that it is not in the [interest] of members to go after another incumbent.”
“There was a strong feeling among the Tuesday Group that the leadership should make a very strong statement about this at the appropriate time as [Former Speaker] Newt Gingrich [R-Ga.] did,” Bass added.
And one GOP source said that Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, denounced Republican lawmakers working against each other at a chairman’s meeting.
So why is DeLay speaking ill of Tancredo?
Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican...
Then WHY jump on Tancredo for being a true, good conservative??
Because there are ulterior motives afoot that we, the peones, are not worthy of hearing ?
Jim Kolbe better start considering what he wants to do in retirement. The conservative wing of the GOP here is working very, very hard to kick his Log Cabin RINO fanny into the sunset.
Uh maybe because Delay didn't start it, Tancredo did,
Tancredo is a loose cannon.
DeLay took him to the woodshed. It was a shot across the bow.
If Tancredo doesn't get the message, he'll have a challenger in 2006, heavily funded by the RNC.
I must have missed the part where DeLay "spoke" ill of Tancredo.
Can you point it out for me?
Tancredo is like Buchanan; the messenger is drowing out the message.
Your right Delay didn't speak ill of Tancredo. I got caught in that trap.
Even if Kolbe wins his primary, I know a lot of conservatives here who will not vote for him in the general election -- myself included.
He forced the closure of the Border Patrol's highway checkpoints here and aided greatly in turning Cochise County into Grand Central Station for illegal aliens.
Unlike Buchanan, however, Tancredo's right. The voters in those border states will show their dissatisfaction this election cycle.
...Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who has gotten into hot water with a few of his colleagues for setting up a political action committee that has attacked them on immigration policies.
As one poster pointed out, Tancredo is a loose canon. Certainly seems that way.
But I still don't see where DeLay said anything, do you?
Tancredo is secure in his district. Approvals up in the 70% range.
Bay's trying to do what her brother couldn't -- destroy the GOP.
If you had read the whole story, you would have realized just who started what. Delay was trying to basically tell Tancredo not to attack fellow Republicans, something alot of people have been saying on here that we should be doing to keep Bush in office and increase the majority in the Senate. Can't have it both ways.
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