Posted on 04/15/2005 9:49:07 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
Rep. Tom Tancredo said it is 'probably not the worst idea' for embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step down while he deals with ethics allegiations.
Stepping into a swirling Washington controversy, the Littleton Republican said he doesn't think the current accusations against DeLay amount to much. But Tancredo said that from a personal perspective, DeLay has handled the ethics issue 'stupidly.'
'I don't think we should try and oust him,' he said in an interview Thursday at the Capitol.
'Right now, I would not encourage him to leave. If he chose to resign as majority leader until these matters are resolved, that's probably not the worst idea.'
Tancredo would be the first fellow conservative to come close to such a suggestion, although he and the poweful Texas are not close political allies.
Meanwhile, 10 former GOP members of Congress, including one from Colorado, joined in a letter to house leadership to say that they believe ethics rules were revised this year in an effort to protect DeLay from investigation and that the changes must be reversed to restore 'confidence in the people's House.'
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
(1) Tancredo wouldn't encourage DeLay to leave, but if he chooses to resign then he wouldn't have a problem with it.
(2) Tancredo doesn't think the allegations amount to a hill of beans, but he thinks DeLay handled it "stupidly."
Why can't Tancredo just keep his big fat mouth shut? He is contradicting himself so bad he makes Clinton sound like a straight shooter.
I can only assume these comments were made before Tancredo was aware of DeLay's comments on the border and illegal immigration. Then again, maybe Tom's worried about DeLay stealing some of his thunder.
Yep. The liberal media did the same thing to Santorum, and to Bush's comments about DeLay. They cherry-pick the statements and portray it in a negative light, just to make conservatives hyperventilate over nothing.
BTW Media - Where the hell's the press about John Conyers' ex-aide who is now wanted by the cops for fraud.
Tancredo does a number of things right, but this is not one of them. I think you'll see a partial backpedal on this shortly, but that's not the point.
This is absolutely him eating his own for political points. That bothers me a whole heck of a lot more than DeLay's so-called ethics violations, most of which I think are trumped up. When they're going back to the seventies, they've got to be bluffing.
All of these GOPers who eat their own to pander to the MSM ought to read about Bob Packwood and look at what a fine job the MSM did to save him.
I'm with you. It's a shame he went out and did that.
Tancredo's comments are hardly incendiary. He did say 'while' he is dealing with these issues, which of course can be interpreted as supporting him resuming leadership once cleared of all of this mess.
Delay's career stance on immigration seems to be somewhat decent by conservative/Tancredo standards, so I doubt that it has anything to do with that.
Now it seems like the 11th commandment has morphed into "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow
Republican enough."
I too think Tancredo will backpedal if he serious about running in 08...
Politician Tancredo wants to stay on both sides, of this issue.
He's mortal, afterall.
Exactly! I am just curious what some of the folks on here are going to say now! :)
The winner of this battle is a foregone conclusion and I am loving every minute of it.
And with that, Tancredo exits my list of those I will consider voting for in the presidential primaries. As if a single issuer had much of a chance, anyway...
I saw this and burst out laughing -- unbelieveable is all I have to say. Now is not the time to break ranks and make any comments that the media can put out that shows a problem.
No way he would win the nomination in 2008 IMHO! Speaking of 2008, Senator George Allen is coming to OKC to our OK GOP Convention this weekend -- he will be here tonight when J.D. Heyworth is speaking and J.C. is being honored with an award and keeping my fingers crossed that he will be making an announcement.
Tomorrow Senator Allen is giving the keynote address to our Convention. Really looking forward to hearing him speak -- Oklahoma has an early primary in 2008 -- first week in February and Senator Allen is the first candidate to make a visit to our State!
Allen does have the Big Mo, with fundraising...but watch out for Rudi!
Another outsider, like Shays.
Ok, This article and the AP Wires you will see and Headlines around the nation will show the Bias on this subject.
Here is Tom Tancredo's quote in it ENTIRETY:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO-06) today said of embattled Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX):
"I believe that all of the charges against Tom DeLay I have seen to date lack merit. I believe they are being leveled in the hopes of brining him down, and with him the Republican Majority," said Tancredo. "However if the Majority Leader were to temporarily step aside so that these trumped up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment, as they have proven to be an unnecessary distraction, it may be a productive move."
Not as quite as cut and dried in the Denver Post version!
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