Thomas may want DeLay's old job

The Bakersfield Californian ^ | January 11 2006 | VIC POLLARD

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Thomas may want DeLay's old job Critics quickly trounce rumored idea, pointing out Kern congressman's foibles

A rumor posted on a Wall Street Journal weblog that Congressman Bill Thomas may run to succeed scandal-plagued House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sent shudders through both conservative Republicans and Democrats this week.

Thomas, R-Bakersfield, did not respond to repeated e-mail and telephone requests for comment. However, other accounts of the contest to succeed DeLay have not mentioned Thomas as a candidate.

Two other GOP congressmen, Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boehner of Ohio, have a head start with active campaigns already under way for the No. 2 leadership post below House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

DeLay, a Texas Republican known in Washington as "the Hammer" for his forceful political tactics, announced Sunday he won't try to hold onto the House leadership position.

He was forced to step down temporarily late last year after a grand jury indicted him on political corruption charges.

The Thomas rumor was reported Tuesday by John Fund, author of the Wall Street Journal's weblog, The Political Diary.

"Another prominent House Republican may be about to join the race to succeed Tom DeLay...," Fund wrote.

"Bill Thomas, the brainy and often bombastic chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is contemplating running in the Feb. 2 election, which will be decided by a secret vote of the 231 House Republicans."

Fund did not cite a source for the rumor but it drew immediate negative reactions from California's conservative Republican activists.

They have long been at war with Thomas, whom they consider too liberal and too domineering.

Jon Fleischman, an Orange County Republican analyst, wrote in his weblog, the Flash Report, that "... the United States of America needs this news like it needs an outbreak of the measles."

He said Thomas is a big spender who is part of the reason the United States is seeing the "largest expansion of the federal government" in its history despite Republican control of Congress and the White House.

There was no immediate reaction from Democrats, but Thomas was harshly attacked last week by the Democratic leader of the state Senate.

Don Perata of Oakland accused Thomas of "stiffing" most of California because he steered a "massive" amount of federal transportation money to Kern County last year, far more than other areas received.

Although the rumor could not be confirmed, a House leadership post would be one of the few steps upward on the political ladder available to Thomas. He will be required to leave the chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee at the end of next year under internal House rules.

For more information, visit the Wall Street Journal's Political Diary, which requires a subscription fee, at www.opinionjournal.com/politicaldiary and The Flash Report at www.flashreport.org.

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Bill Thomas (R-CA) for Majority Leader
	Posted by SolidSupplySide On News/Activism 01/10/2006 10:03:42 AM PST · 10 replies · 230+ views OpinionJournal's Political Diary via The Corner at NRO ^ | 01.10.2006 | John Fund Another prominent House Republican may be about to join the race to succeed Tom DeLay, who stepped down permanently as House Majority Leader over the weekend. Bill Thomas, the brainy and often bombastic chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is contemplating running in the Feb. 2 election, which will be decided by a secret vote of the 231 House Republicans. Mr. Thomas views the current frontrunners, Acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt and Education Committee Chairman John Boehner, as too closely tied to the status quo. If he ran, according to former aides, he would likely garner enough support...