The Dems are on crack, if they think incompetent DA Earle has a case here against "Teflon Tom".
I think the strategists at the DNC wanted a distraction from the hurricane blame game because the blame was about to come home to roost on their shoulders.
The fact that DeLay is likely going to get off because the charge is so broad and the evidence so weak, and the lack of a body (no law was actually broken) - this fact will only play into their talking points.
The MSM will hide the fact that the charges were false, and will put the Democrat faces on the screen to talk about Teflon Tom and how the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy mobilized to get him off the hook.
Standard operating procedures.