Posted on 01/09/2006 12:57:50 PM PST by Kaslin
In public, the relationship between President Bush and former GOP House majority leader Tom DeLay has been friendly, but in private its been downright distant.
According to this weeks Time magazine, while on the surface they have been cordial to each other, there has been a "longtime chill between the two men.
Time describes their relationship as strictly professional. "DeLay admires Bush's leadership but still thinks of himself as the strongest conservative on the block," a DeLay friend told Time. "They perceive DeLay as a bull in a china shop. They appreciate him as their protector and retriever."
For his part, Bush was publicly supportive of DeLay during his re-election bid in 2004, but the inside story is quite different.
"Privately ... he questioned his fellow Texan's mojo. Bush had scored 10 points higher than DeLay in the Representative's district in 2004, and that was only after Bush had recorded a telephone message to help rally local Republicans. 'I can't believe I had to do robocalls for him, the President said bitingly to an Oval Office visitor," writes the magazine.
A point of contention between the two is top White House political guru Karl Rove. DeLay had no help from Rove in rising to power in Texas, something which not many Texas politicos can claim. DeLay is said to be "less than enthusiastic about Roves much vaunted political savvy."
"Karl thinks of (DeLay) as someone a little bit too opinionated for his own good," an official close to both men told Time. "And DeLay thinks of Karl as a former mail vendor, not some great guru."
White House advisers allege that the men around Bush have treated DeLay as a necessary burden, noting that while he may have had an unmatched grip on the House and Washington lobbyists, DeLay is not the kind of guy in background and temperament the President feels comfortable with.
Time quotes a an unnamed Republican allegedly close to the President's inner circle as saying of the man Time sneeringly calls "the former exterminator that "They have always seen him as beneath them, more blue collar. He's seen as a useful servant, not someone you would want to vacation with," the source sniffed.
That boy could catch pneumonia sittin' next to the Prez!
DeLay's leadership will be remembered by intelligent conservatives long after Bush's minimal impact on domestic policy is forgotten. Bush could never have accomplished what DeLay accomplished in the House.
This is total BS, no doubt W makes off the cuff remarks and might have been overheard but I do not believe for one minute they have a chilly relationship.
I like Tom DeLay alot, and I'm not a big Rove fan either.
I'd be pissed if the top dog of my own party wouldn't stick up for me when faced with packs of wild-dog lefties, but other than that, just because they're in the same party doesn't make anyone best buds. All they need to do is work together, which they have.
I don't really want them having any relations, chilly or otherwise...
They've both colluded on squandering taxpayers' hard-earned money, impoverishing future generations under crushing debt, ignoring border-security issues and stomping the First Amendment.
Birds of a feather.
It's the same-old same-old. Both Time and Newsweek uses "anonymous White House sources" to try and divide the Republican base by pitting the WH against prominent Republicans. Even Stevie Wonder can see through this ruse.
I don't believe this at all. If that was so W wouldn't have said he thought DeLay was innocent when Brit ask him.
You are absolutely right. I don't believe this article. Bush would be a fool not to realize the difference between GOP House discipline without Delay in leadership. Time mag is just another lefty resource.
Wasn't this the same "source" that said Bush and Cheney are also chilly and that "Bush won't replace Cheney yet..but all options are on the table" as if the President can unilaterily replace a Vice President..(amazingly, I started this post as a question..to only end it as a statement..wow..my english teacher would slap my wrists with her ruler for that)
And Newsmax that repeats it. If I didn't know better I'd say they're turning leftist.
"And Newsmax that repeats it. If I didn't know better I'd say they're turning leftist."
New Smax is not the most reliable news source around.
Can anyone consider Time a credible source?
Well of course liberals such as Bush don't like a conservative such as DeLay.
is that the same Delay who said there was no fat left to trim off the federal budget?
Anything following that is for ammusement purposes only.
Well, DeLay used to be more conservative than Bush ever has. That's gotta count for something.
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