[Steve Van Doorn]

"Republicans believe in doing the right thing which is to win at the ballot box.

You're right; that's all they believe in. But that's not the right thing.

The rats are able to fight with the media behind them. The republicans do not have that luxury.

[AmishDude]

But you can play the media. DeLay may be playing this very well. If he's truly innocent of the Abramoff stuff (the only things any of these Congressmen can be guilty of AFAIK is bribery or taking "illegal" gifts -- the first is nearly impossible to prove and the second is nearly always only an ethics violation), then what this does is muddy the waters in peoples' minds.

When Earle is slapped down, DeLay will be vindicated and people will not be able to distinguish between all of these technical charges and will just assume he was vindicated en toto. This will put the GOP on the offense. Let's just hope it happens before the elections.