Posted on 03/06/2006 3:57:05 PM PST by AZRepublican
Tomorrows Republican primary in Texas 22nd Congressional District will test how much damage has been inflicted on former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay by a series of legal and ethics controversies. And lawyer Tom Campbell has emerged as the strongest of three Republican challengers in the district that includes parts of Houston and its suburbs.
Campbell, who met with CQPolitics.com senior reporter Greg Giroux in Washington on Feb. 8, has some experience in the nations capital, as a former counsel to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
He does not claim any major policy differences with the activist conservative agenda DeLay has pressed since he was first elected to Congress in 1984. Campbell argues instead that ethical questions and the kind of hardball partisan tactics that long made DeLay a powerful force in Washington politics have now rendered him ineffective. He says it is time to replace him with a new member who is free of that kind of political baggage.
Campbell contends that DeLays problems would cause him to lose the general election in the 22nd District, which normally has a solidly Republican lean, in part because Democrats have made him the embodiment of a culture of corruption that they accuse the Republican congressional majority of fomenting. Campbell said that, in turn, could contribute to the GOP losing its 12-year control of the House.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
(Excerpt) Read more at cqpolitics.com ...
Congressional Quarterly has produced libs like Craig Crawford who lie and defend media bias.
Their predictions are crap.
Campbell: I believe that Mr. DeLay has practiced a brand of win-at-any-cost, partisan slash-and-burn politics that has caused him to pursue short-term victories.Short term victories????????? I like Tom's brand very much Mr. Campbell.
Campbell rino.
It's becoming more and more obvious that Campbell is working for the DNC and Ronnie Earle.
It will be interesting to see the results tomorrow and I don't think DeLay will lose but I have no real feel for what it's like on the ground in the 22th. But this maybe a long ways from being over if the SCOTUS decides to reverse the Texas redistricting lines of 04.... If they revert back to the 02 lines then that in my mind helps to explain why both Lampson and Stockman have stuck their necks in a race which wasn't their original home base.
IIRC, Delay's district actually became less Republican under the '04 lines. He gave up some of his voters to make some other districts more Republican.
Democrats want DeLay to win because they believe he can be beaten in November. There are no policy difference between Campbell and DeLay.
Campbell polled only 6% in January, but has been receiving an extraordinary amount of support recently. Local media had consistently expected DeLay to win with 60% of the vote, which is the same as the over/under I posted last week. Fort Bend Now is now predicting a DeLay win with only 57% of the vote. FWIW, last week I predicted a 20% chance that there would be a DeLay-Campbell runoff.
If Campbell wins, he will beat Democrat Nick Lampson. If DeLay wins, I predict DeLay will win less than 50% of the vote in CD22 in November's general election (DeLay got 55% in 2004's general election). A former GOP Congressman, Steve Stockman, has announced his intention to run as an independent. (Stockman needs to collect petition signatures from people who didn't vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries to make the ballot. I suspect Stockman will be able to do it, but there's a chance he won't.) Given a four-way (including a Libertarian) race in November, 45-49% may be enough to win CD22.
Vote for DeLay, and you take the risk that Lampson will win with 45%. Vote for Campbell, and rest assured that CD22 remains Republican.
Keep CD22 Republican! Vote for Campbell!
The Party is doomed. The party is turning its back on one of its best ever members. They are doing it because they are afraid of the media. If we cant trust the party to stand up for one of its own to the media, how the hell can we expect them to stand for anything else..?
The GOP expects integrity in its public officials. How many times has DeLay been found guilty by the Ethics Committee? 3? 4?
This race will define Republicans. There is no policy difference between the two candidates. That is not the issue. Will Republicans defend unethical behavior like the Democrats? Or do Republicans really have higher standards?
I think its a sad day. Sometimes arm twisting is needed in government. The Republicans just dont have the stomach for politics..
Testicularly challenged, but fortunately it's not all, or even a majority of them.
No, its all of them. There should never have been an "Gang of 14". If the majority repubs are held hostage to the Dewines and Specters, then they are all testiculary challenged. Not one of those 7 should have ever been backed by the GOP again. Sorry, the congressional edge is just about gone. And selfish, grandstanding Republicans are to blame, along with chicken shiite leadership that allows it to happen. We deserve to lose the House and the Impeachment thats sure to follow, because we cant unify on one damn thing..
Delay has run an overly aggressive campaign against Campbell. Is Delay attempting to use Campbell's Mormonism against him as a way to sway undecideds?
He works for them about as much as you do.
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