DeLay: The Reckoning
The Washington Post‘s front page piece on DeLay’s departure is the best follow-up to DeLay’s decision. The Post reports that DeLay had been thinking of dropping out for the last four months, but that he wanted to win the primary in order to ensure that none of his Republican challengers there made it through, since “he considered his three Republican challengers gadflies and traitors.”
The decision to drop out was made last Wednesday, following on a poll taken two weeks ago that showed voters in his district were entrenched and it would be expensive to change their minds.
But above all, according to a former aide of DeLay’s, “He needed to raise money for the defense fund. That was the bottom line.” So he stuck it out long enough to make sure he could pay his lawyers.
Associates of DeLay “acknowledge” that the looming Justice Department investigation had something to do with it, but the Post seems to agree with them that it was merely one factor among many. In other words, if DeLay wasn’t polling so badly, he would have stayed in. (WaPo)
Knight Ridder is almost alone in its frank coverage of DeLay’s decision to step down. Why’d he do it? Because he’s clearly the target of the Justice Department’s bribery investigation. (KR)
Knight Ridder also reports that this probably won’t effect the midterm elections very much either way. (KR)
The LA Times looks at his future prospects as a conservative leader, and it looks dim:
Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, a grass-roots conservative organization, scoffed at the notion that DeLay would become a leader of social conservatives. “As an elected official, when he called conservatives together, he was in a position to do so,” Weyrich said. “On what basis does he operate from the outside?”
(LA Times)
Roll Call comes at the DeLay story with both barrels blazing: His departure is a relief for the GOP; They believe it improves their odds of winning the TX-22 race; DeLay’s gonna run up a mountain of legal bills; Other lawmakers are drooling at the prospect of taking DeLay’s old seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Also, the Dems say even with DeLay gone, the culture of corruption in Washington hasn’t changed ( a point with which the NYObserver‘s Joe Conason cheerily agrees).
The AP‘s Tom Raum reports that DeLay leaves a “troubling legacy” of corruption without falling into the “DeLay’s resignation is bad for Democrats because he’s the corrupt one” talking point. (AP)
DeLay’s departure deprives the GOP of one of their most effective leaders, chatters the Christian Science Monitor and the Houston Chronicle. And that doesn’t bode well for dealing with their current crises, the LA Times chimes in. (CSM, Houston Chronicle, LA Times)
The WaPo reports that DeLay’s is the latest of history’s defiant exits. (WaPo)
The Post‘s Chris Cilizza gave his own rundown on how the two parties spun DeLay’s decision. (The Fix)
Steve Clemons wants the soon-to-be-retired Tom DeLay to teach us all how Washington really works: “there would be no one better than Tom DeLay to give this insider’s view of America’s structurally corrupt political order today.” (TWN)
And with DeLay out of the way, Roll Call asks, let’s take a look at this fellow, Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). (Roll Call)
Judge to Abramoff: Get Thee to a Penitentiary!
Disgraced GOP superlobbyist Jack Abramoff has been ordered to turn himself over to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on June 29. (Roll Call)
More McKinney Coverage
House Republicans are pushing for a resolution commending Capitol Police, one of whom Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) allegedly punched last week. Meanwhile, McKinney doesn’t seem to be getting too much support from her Democrats. (AP, Roll Call)
Meanwhile, Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer all but says the McKinney arrest is political:
“There’s a lot bigger crimes in the world and this city and things we’re worried about up on this campus than whether or not one Member of Congress is wearing their identification pin,” he said. But, “there is a lot of heat on this case because it’s a Member of Congress and she’s been so national in her response to this, so everyone is going to make sure that the ‘i’s are dotted and the ‘t’s are crossed and we follow every procedure and protocol.”
House Ethics Committee to the Rescue!
Oh, wait. A recent meeting ended in deadlock over whether they should examine lawmakers who are also the focus of criminal probes. The only thing the committee did agree on was to continue its investigation of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA). (USA Today)
DHS Spokesman Arrested on Charges of Soliciting Underage Girl
We noted this last night. The AP has since picked up the story. More on this later. (TPMm, AP)
Reform
There should be a vote on the Republicans’ measure to cap individual donations to 527 organizations on Wednesday. The vote will be close. Democrats are generally opposed, since the effort is a fairly bald effort at attacking what has been an effective weapon for Democrats. But many good government groups back the measure, saying that the 527 organizations are thriving in what is a loophole from the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation.
The Hill reports that the conservatives seem to be split on the measure. (AP, The Hill)
Katherine Harris Watch
The Tampa Tribune reports that Harris might very be going crazy. Among other things, she had her locks “changed and posted a security guard at the door of her campaign headquarters in Tampa and had [recently resigned] staff members escorted in to retrieve their belongings.” (TT)
The GOP would love it if someone, anyone would step up and take the GOP nomination from Katherine Harris in Florida’s Senate race. The Post‘s Chris Cilizza gives a rundown of possible contenders – the short version: it’s looking like Harris will be it, even though most GOP strategists have despaired of her possibly winning.
The Hotline has the news on the replacements for Harris’ recently departed staff. Endearing her to the party even less, one of her new picks once threatened to sue former Rep. Max Burns (R-GA) and the NRCC. (The Fix,Roll Call, Hotline)
In Other Muck
The Government Accountability Office issued a report criticizing the Army for spending “nearly $500 million on no-bid contracts for private security guards, and [using] contractors that hired people with criminal records.” (USA Today)
The Office also reported that “Government agencies that use private information services for law enforcement, counterterrorism and other investigations often do not follow federal rules to protect Americans’ privacy.” (WaPo)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) wants the State Department to determine whether or not it’s using a “political litmus test” to ensure only ideologically-sound Americans are sent abroad to represent U.S. interests.
Covered Yesterday
Oh, Tuesday was Tom DeLay day. You can see all of our coverage here.
Payments to Doolittle’s Wife Draw Scrutiny from FEC…(link)
Abramoff Courted Sudan Government as Client…(link)
An Ohio Official Involved in the Selection of Diebold for Elections Owned Diebold Stock…(link)
