DeLay campaign lashes out at a primary foe (DeLay goes Negative on Tom Campbell [R-Sugar Land])

Houston Chronicle ^ | Feb. 15, 2006, 2:46AM | KRISTEN MACK

[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.

[TXBSAFH]

Yep.

[deport]

Lampson has a 21 ACU voting record in his 8 years as a congress critter from the TX 9th. He supported such things as allowing illegals to remain in the US, abortion on military bases, opposed budget reform, etc.

http://www.acuratings.org/statedelegation.asp?state=tx

[fortheDeclaration]

Thanks I will check it out.

[MikeA]

I know campaigns are rough and tumble, but it's a shame Delay is lowering himself to this, even more than he's already lowered himself. Sometimes you just have to know when it's the decent thing to go quietly into that great night rather than continuing to act as a cancer on the party and the body you serve. We all said the decent thing for Clinton to spare the nation a painful impeachment process would be to step down. I think it needs to be said that to spare the party further pain, Delay needs to retire. That might not be what's fair, but right or wrong Delay has become a cancer on the party. And his smallness in viciously attacking his opponent shows the urgency of the party needing to move on from Delay.

[TXBSAFH]

You are so right.