Posted on 08/16/2006 11:24:54 AM PDT by Columbine
In a recent speech, I told the audience about the political landscape of the 2006 elections. It’s going to be much tougher for Republicans than in recent election cycles. As a political party, we must have our act together in order to be successful. Unfortunately, that task has become tougher. The congressional seat of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay is now in jeopardy thanks in part to a failure in leadership from party officials.
Following a primary election victory, Rep. DeLay decided, through the advice of party officials, that because of the media circus that was surrounding his pending court case and other factors, the road to reelection would be tough. His opponent, former Rep. Nick Lampson, is very well funded, and has enlisted the support of Hollywood liberals and far-left organizations to help him win the seat.
In order to give the best possible opportunity to a new Republican candidate, a plan was put into place, undoubtedly under the guidance of party officials, whereby DeLay would move to Virginia, and thus be ineligible to run for a Texas congressional seat. Following Texas state law, a process would then unfold in which a new Republican nominee would be chosen to face Lampson. Sounds good on paper, right? However, the process quickly bogged down, and with no leadership or statewide/national media message the case disappeared into the courts with disastrous results.
(Excerpt) Read more at gopusa.com ...
Score one for The Stupid Party. Democrats don't make these kind of boners. They lie, cheat, and break the law in order to get their campaigns in place.
His opponent, former Rep. Nick Lampson, is very well funded, and has enlisted the support of Hollywood liberals and far-left organizations to help him win the seat.
That will realy play well in that district
Sure they do. But then, as you said, they cheat. (See Torricelli, Robert)
Lampson propoganda commercials have already hit the airwaves.
Former Harris County Republican Party Chairman Gary Polland cites the Texas Republican Party leadership for its failure to properly have DeLay removed from the ballot. In the latest issue of his Texas Conservative Review, Polland enumerates what went wrong with the DeLay case. In particular, Polland notes:
– [Republican Party of Texas ] Chairman [Tina] Benkiser did not adequately prepare for or document DeLay’s change of residency when she removed his name. This was a chance where a little extra effort could have paid off. Instead it hurt them later when trying to prove DeLay’s ineligibility.
– RPT did not have their case together. In trial, the RPT’s arguments and witnesses came across as under-prepared. They made crucial mistakes that also limited their ability to make a stronger case on appeal.
– Moving to Federal Court was a monster mistake. RPT assumed that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals would rule in our favor simply because they’re perceived as a Republican court. Instead, the RPT simply invited the federal government to intervene on a matter of state law. Not only was this a foolish move - it was decidedly not conservative. Conservatives respect our system of federalism and the rights and laws of the states
The Liberal Party establishment didn't want the conservative Hammer to stay in the House.
They kicked him out.
They lose this seat it's their damn fault, and I'm not shedding a tear for them or the "sensitive morally upright beltway elitist conservatives" that joined the bash Delay bandwagon. Yes, I'm pointing at NR here...
The Torch situation was also much, much worse. The NJ law was in place with a late deadline in order to prevent the costly reprinting of ballots, not some sort of weird "good government" measure.
I never understood why DeLay dropped out of the race in the first place. The "money laundering" case against him was unraveling, and there was evidence of the prosecuter jury shopping just to get any sort of indictment in part because a documentary was being filmed about the prosecuter.
What came out of the closet to bite the Hammer so badly that he ran away from a fight?
Gary Polland apparently doesn't know what he's talking about. They went to the Federal courts because they were arguing a Federal issue.
Or maybe he just has an axe to grind.
laws and rules only apply to the GOP
Same reason Bush and Rove pressured Sen Fitzgerald of Illinois to quit his seat. They were afraid he "might" lose, so they put in someone who did lose. To Osama Obama, of all people. Dick Marcinko would call that a real goatrope.
I think Rove is a greatly overrated intellect. Lee Atwater must be wringing his hands over this clown show.
It's hard to believe either party will win this fall. When someone like Lieberman can't go through the motions to turn out his supporters, you know things are run by incompetents.
"really play well in that district" I assume your tong is placed firmly in the teeth. With out the lawsuit the Rats would not have prevailed. Yes it was botched, yes DeLay could have and should have run and won. However we have been dealt a hand we must win and If we have to draw to a straight flush then deal the cards.
I still think it was the "money laundering" case that did DeLay in because he's now "indicted Congressman Tom DeLay" no matter how corrupt Earle is. There are some who say that it's the Abramoff scandal, but (a) I don't know what DeLay did, other than knowing Abramoff by name and (b) it is really not going anywhere.
The bottom line is that Tom's poll numbers were too low and that's really all that matters.
The write-in campaigns are just rehearsals for next year. Should Lampson win, we should knock him out in the 2008 Presidential Year. Provided we stay focused on "Lampson Using the Courts to steal our seat" instead of slashing each other's throats in the primary.
It is hard to compare Torricelli and Delay because one was a Senator, and one was a Representative. However, I believe that the constitution overrides laws designed solely to save time and money for the SOS office of that state. Everyone is equally entitled to representation. Torricelli should have been removed from the NJ ballot, as Delay should be removed from the TX-22 ballot.
I don't agree with the article. The GOP case was a loser from the getgo because one isn't disqualified from the ballot under Texas law unless one is not a resident on election day, and there is no way to know that until election day. Thus the factual details don't matter.
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