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.
In some places it won't matter one bit if Tom Delay is or isn't in.
At the same time, there is this whole swath of people in the middle that vote too, in other districts.
If we turn them off to Republicans because of their perceptions of the leadership, then there you have it. The House is lost.
Tom Delay has gotten too big, and other republicans have already taken the steps to put him in his place.
If we put it out there where if they take down DeLay then they take down the whole Republican machine then we've messed up royally.
We can either try to appeal to the unbending extremes of the hardcore party loyalists, or we can aim at those in the middle and get them to lean bit by bit more conservative, which I believe they are naturally inclined to do so. Elections as a whole are won in inches generally speaking.
Its politics. Its how you present the message. One can be way over on the right and still appeal to those in the middle by being rational and talking to them like they are adults.
If there is one thing I have noticed about many Republicans on Free Republic (and elsewhere) is their lack of confidence.
Delay is not going to lose his seat to a Democrat, the 22nd is a solid Republican district.
As for distractions, I think we are able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
The charges against Delay are political in nature and most Republicans believe that.
Now as for the Democrats 'crowing' on Nov.8th, I can't wait to 'crow' when we send the 'Hammer' back to the House and better yet when the charges are dropped he may even get his Majority leadership back.
People on the Free Republic are always complaining about 'Rhinos' and weak leadership, but when we get a leader who is willing to take on the Democrats and beat them at their own game, we are ready to desert him because he draws some fire.
While I agree that the 22nd is a solidly Republican district, DeLay may not be the guy to win it. In 2004, DeLay won 55% of the vote. That is a good 7% behind what President Bush has won.
And Ft. Bend County is getting less and less reliable for conservative candidates. DeLay only got in the low 50s in his home county in 2004. Fortunately, the most conservative parts of the district are SE Harris County (the population center of the district) and Brazoria County (the fastest growing part of the district). The 22nd gets more and more conservative every year, but that is not translating into support for DeLay in the pre-election polls.
That said, I'm not sure how reliable pre-election polls are for primary elections. Only ~27,000 people voted in the GOP primary in the district in 2002 (last off year election). With open primaries in Texas and low turnout, Democrats could cause trouble. And a potential run-off would be worse. If there's a run-off, we'd better hope it's between DeLay and Campbell so that we know a conservative will win. Democrats would be out in force if it's DeLay-Fjetland or DeLay-Baig.
I don't believe that DeLay's perjury in the Blankenship case is a political charge. The fact that DeLay "corrected" his testimony after the case was settled indicates to me that he knew his testimony was false. And the fact that DeLay "corrected" his testimony after settlement is as irrelevant to me as the fact that Clinton "corrected" his testimony after he settled with Paula Jones. The Paula Jones (Clinton) case is remarkably similar to the Blankenship (DeLay) case.
Tom Delay signed onto the "Fair Tax". He was going to push on it this year. That's why he's despised by so many rinos and leftists.
Tom DeLay must be scared of this primary. I've been averaging 2 direct mail campaign letters per week from him. Interestingly enough, he has never mentioned the so-called "Fair Tax" in any of them. DeLay knows his district. He knows that the voters in the 22nd are far too sophisticated to fall for the "Fair Tax".
"Sophisticated"=rinos.
I live in the 22nd district and am supporting Campbell, I have had my fill of big government free traitors.
"Fair Tax" supporters are an emotional lot. When they claim that TX-CD22 is a RINO district, you know they've gone into the fever swamps. TX-CD22 has sent Tom DeLay to Congress for over 20 years. TX-CD22 is as conservative as they come. And we understand economics here, too!
I ahve gotten three mailers this week. All went into the trash. I refuse to support this free traitor respendican.
I do not believe that Delay is up on perjury charges is he?
I think the charges are 'money laundering' for which the DA had to go to a second Grand Jury to get his indictment.
I believe that the 'crime' that Delay is suppose to have committed is transfering funds from his own campaign chest to the Republican State races.
That is same type of nonsense that Earle tried 'getting' Senator Kay Baily Hutcherson on.
This campaign is about the Fair Tax, like it or not.
The protectionists are an emotional lot, too. Campbell is campaigning on a platform of lower taxes. Therefore, I suspect that Campbell is in favor of low tariffs (taxes). I don't think Campbell would open himself up to charges of "Read my lips . . ." by supporting higher taxes.
If he wins I will either vote third party or skip that vote. He is not worth my support.
I hope you're right. We have this problem in Texas which they may or may not have in other states. It's called Old Dems running as Republicans because the Dems are washed up in Texas, except of course on the border counties. We have a retired judge running for a judgeship in our county who for 30 years ran as a Dem, now he's running as a Republican. We have no one running on the county level as a Dem. They've all come over to the Republican Party and are running in the Primary.
This guy Campbell claims to be a Republican yet they can't find where he has supported any other republicans or been a part of the party in previous years.
Tom DeLay is a proven conservative. He fought the hard battles and now the Dems are destroying him like they did Newt Gingrich. The sickening part of it is that there are Repubicans ready and willing to help them. If we don't fight for DeLay, and defeat the Dems in these tactics, no Republican is safe. I pray that his district returns him to office by a great majority, and some one puts Ronnie Earle out of office.
Admittedly it is a protest vote, but I can not support him anymore. I voted for him in the past, but after cafta and the increase in government spending I can not support hm any longer.
DeLay has been accused of perjury, but not formally. The perjury charges are true. Just like Bill Clinton "corrected" his testimony after settling the Paula Jones in order to avoid formal charges, DeLay "corrected" his testimony after settling the Blankenship case in order to avoid formal charges. To me, neither Clinton's nor DeLay's "corrections" reflect positively on either's character.
You said it all! This guy , campbell, is for "lower taxes", whatever the heck they decide that is. Tom Delay is for the Fair Tax. People know where Delay stands.
Delay chose to weaken his own district to knock off some Democrats in redistricting.
In an off year election, a solid Republican district will have a better turnout then the Democrats.
I do not see Delay having any problem with winning with over 50% of the vote.
We may not agree with everything he votes on but he is a solid conservative.
I haven't gotten any campaign literature from Campbell.
Nor, have I gotten anything negative about Campbell from the Delay campaign.
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