Posted on 02/15/2006 9:40:33 AM PST by SolidSupplySide
DeLay campaign lashes out at a primary foe Campbell called an 'outsider,' but an aide says he's a 'citizen politician'
U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, forced onto the political defensive by ethical and legal charges, went on the offensive Tuesday, claiming one of his Republican primary opponents has overstated his GOP credentials.
DeLay's campaign said challenger Tom Campbell, a lawyer, has not been active in local party politics and has not voted regularly in Republican primaries.
"Every day he proves he's nothing more than an outsider who isn't concerned with conservative issues or fighting for the priorities of Texas taxpayers," DeLay campaign manager Chris Homan said of Campbell.
Campbell's campaign countered that no pure GOP insider would dare challenge the powerful DeLay, even if he has been weakened by a Travis County indictment relating to campaign finance and a federal investigation into his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"The fact is that Tom Campbell is like you and me. He is not a career politician like Tom DeLay. He is a citizen politician," said Michael Stanley, Campbell's campaign chairman. "Tom Campbell calls on Tom DeLay to get beyond the negative, immaterial distractions and get back to the real issues that are important to the people of the district."
Republican Party officials in Fort Bend and Harris County, who have close ties to DeLay, said they had neither seen nor heard of Campbell before he filed for office.
"We wouldn't have called him a conservative as far as being a Texas Republican," said Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Harris County Republican Party's candidate's committee.
Campbell is not in agreement with the Texas Republican Party platform, Wolfe said, citing Campbell's stance against a plank to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and another that states children born in the United States of illegal immigrants should be barred from citizenship.
DeLay, who was unopposed in the 2004 primary and won with 80 percent of the vote in 2002, has said he takes all political challenges seriously. His campaign's attacks on Campbell suggest that he wants to head off any groundswell of support for the challenger, an analyst said.
"Is Campbell a threat to DeLay? I find it hard to believe Mr. Campbell is going to win a primary against DeLay. But he doesn't have to win to do damage to DeLay," said Rice University political scientist Bob Stein. "DeLay needs to win with a substantial number of votes, so he can demonstrate that he is the standard-bearer for his party."
The other Republican primary candidates in the 22nd Congressional District are former school teacher Pat Baig and lawyer Michael Fjetland.
Campbell is not in agreement with the Texas Republican Party platform, Wolfe said, citing Campbell's stance against a plank to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and another that states children born in the United States of illegal immigrants should be barred from citizenship.
I don't know what it means to abolish the IRS? There will be a taxing authority under any tax system. So that taxing authority will have a new name? So what? This is an emotional appeal that probably won't work for most conservatives.
Also, the anti-immigration plank that DeLay supports is the big fissure within the GOP. If there is a split in the GOP, it will be over immigration. DeLay has cast his lot with the pessimists in the party. Politically, I'm not sure how wise that is. Maybe the pessimists are a majority, but traditionally, Republicans have been the optimistic party.
ping
That's pretty simple: it means to "abolish the IRS."
Excise taxes, for example, are collected by the U.S. Treasury.
Texas State sales taxes aren't collected by the "Texas IRS," do you think?
The party platform calling for abolishing the IRS does so in the context of larger tax reform:
"The Party urges that the IRS be abolished and the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution be repealed. We further urge that the personal income tax, inheritance (death) tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, and payroll tax be eliminated. We recommend the implementation of a national retail sales tax, with the provision that a two-thirds majority of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate is required to raise the rate."
Now do you understand?
No. Texas state taxes are collected by the Comptroller's Office. Would it make you feel better if we renamed the IRS the "Federal Comptroller's Office"?
DeLay's six-page letter did not mention a national sales tax. I think DeLay knows that the 22nd district is far too sophisticated to fall for the siren song of a national sales tax. People in his district know that a sales tax and flat income tax are economically equivalent and that a flat income tax does not have the malignant transition problems that a sales tax would. I doubt we'll ever see any DeLay campaign literature during the primary that supports a sales tax.
DeLay campaign lashes out at a primary foe Campbell called an 'outsider,'
Sounds like a badge of honor to me.
Not knocking Delay, but that was a stupid thing to say. Especially when we see what being an 'insider' gets us...
Not to get in an argument with you, given that you are supporting Mr. Campbell, but in a primary where party regulars will do most of the voting, this is not an odd statement.
And the funny thing is that I'm sure that DeLay got my name and address because I have voted in Republican primaries before.
I am not supporting either one.
I can't. No way to vote where I don't live.
You're not arguing with me. Reasonable people can disagree.
I would like to see the letter sent out. This is the first I have heard of it.
That being said, "DeLay has done his duty, and its been good. But its time for him to do a Michelle Kwan and bow out."
I believe DeLay was in trouble and people in the 22nd were growing tired of big government Republicans, however I think they will now support him so as not to give the dims a victory.
In principles I support DeLay. Who wouldn't?
However he's not going to be effective any longer and actually will do more damage going forward by sticking to his guns.
A Campbell win is by no means a dim victory.
The only thing they might win at is DeLay's own game of cantankerous politics, which he brought on himself in some ways. And its not because he's more 'conservative' than someone else...I don't think its entirely because 'he's more effective' either.
He comes across politically as being a flaming a-hole and hence he's made many enemies.
Why go around balleyhooing when one ought to shut up and get the job done? All the balleyhooing brings unwanted attention to the cause.
Basically put its getting to be too much about "Tom DeLay" or "the Democrats", rather than the principles of conservative politics.
That rubs me wrong.
As does,"Vote for me if you hate democrats"
Or, "anything short of Tom DeLay means a win for democrats everywhere"...
Who the hell says so?
I saw that crap in Hawaii all the time except it was democrats doing it.
So we should support Campbell who is a complete unknown in local Republican circles over someone we think is being attacked by the dims? Won't happen, not this year.
Thats just it, maybe not this time, but sooner or later that bullseye on Delay is going to wear him out. If he's not gone this go around then I will give him one more(maybe)...
And when that happens the democrats are going to crow about how they won etc etc, even though they lost.
I say beating back the liberal garbage (labeled it as you will) doesn't have to run through Tom DeLay first.
Its not like anyone is advocating voting for the Green Party here.
It was Delay who pushed through the Impeachment articles on Clinton.
It was Delay who helped us win the Texas State Legislative.
This in turn led to more an effective redistricting plan which truely represented Texas as a Republican State.
Delay has earned the right to step down when he wants, not because the Democrats have him targeted with a bogus 'criminal' charge.
I think Delay did a lot in the past thats been good. No argument there.
However, either this cycle or the next he's going to go into retirement, and its going to be because of the heat he's taking. Its only going to get worse. He draws undue attention to himself.
If its because he got bold then he's a sacrificial lamb, because now going forward I don't think he would be an effective leader. He's been crippled, and I don't buy into it that its all because of the Democrats.
Everyone seems to treat him like he's the Godfather or something with everything run through him thats conservative. Its like the mafia sounds like. I don't like that.
No one is saying disrespect him or anything he did.
Looking forward he's going to be a lame duck so to speak which is why another person deserves a spot. Making it all about Tom Delay is selfish to Tom.
He wants a 40 year carreer in the House 'for himself' and thats about the only reason he's running again sounds like to me.
What would be really nice is for Tom to throw his support behind someone else and work together for a common cause. Experience does play a role, but there comes a point when even Dan Mario has to take a back seat to a rookie.
The 'heat' is the Democratic attempt to win back Congress with a coordinated attack on the Republican Congress with charges of corruption.
He has the attention of the Democrats because he has been effective against them and they hate him for it.
It sounds like without DeLay all the other Representatives in Congress just stand around with their head in the clouds waiting for direction.
Thus far the House of Representatives has not imploded since DeLay was forced by his own colleagues to step down.
Again, of course the Democrats want to win Congress, but they don't have a hope to start with Tom DeLay's district.
I like MikeA's comments on another thread,
"Anyway, I think we just have to face facts here that if Delay remains the candidate after the primary, this seat is likely to get into the hands of the DemonRats come November unless Delay is cleared by then which is unlikely since the idiot judge is going to force this road apple of an indictment into a jury trial. And I simply will not be able to handle the crowing of the Dems. on the morning of November 8th that they managed to knock off Delay. Better we should clean our own house than to get our clocks cleaned by evil people."
To me this isn't a Republican versus Soros or Democrat issue at this point.
This is a Republican vs. Republican, with one of those "former" superstars causing his own set of trouble for himself AND other colleagues in the House. DeLay is their ammo and they got enough of it to go around.
Its about keeping our motives aimed in the right direction. DeLay's campaign isn't even halfway about any issues for crying out loud. Its about how everyone is attacking Tom.
Talk about how to balance the budget or cut taxes or something. Debate the issues, which so far as I can tell hasn't happened. I don't want to listen to Tom DeLay defending himself for the next two years or more. It detracts from what should be going on.
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