Time.com Exclusive: Tom DeLay Says He Will Give Up His Seat

[drm604]

Note to mods: This is not a dupe of other posts saying that he's dropping out of the race. This is saying that he is dropping out AND LEAVING CONGRESS.

The embattled former Republican leader tells TIME that he will leave Congress and not seek reelection.

Rep. Tom DeLay, whose iron hold on the House Republicans melted as a lobbying corruption scandal engulfed the Capitol, told TIME that he will not seek reelection and will leave Congress within months.

<snip>

"I'm going to announce tomorrow that I'm not running for reelection and that I'm going to leave Congress," DeLay, who turns 59 on Saturday, said during a 90-minute interview on Monday.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1179853,00.html

[MissB]

1. Ahhhh... I wonder why.

:rofl:

[DaveinMD]

2. that would be bad news

I think we beat him if he runs, but won't win against another Republican.

[Lisa0825]

10. I disagree.

We have a candidate with good name recognition running, Nick Lampson. He's not liberal enough for my taste, but that is probably a good thing in that district. I think we have as good a shot either way, maybe a better shot depending on how connected the other repug is.

[rustydog]

3. Of course he's leaving Congress, he can't attend while incarcerated!

DUH!

[msgadget]

4. I thought this was a late April fool's joke!

I won't believe it until he's all the way gone.

[daleo]

5. Not seek re-election, give up seat, then go to jail?

If it is big enough for the first two, it is probably big enough for the last one.

[rodeodance]

6. bye bye tbugman!--I am so very tired of hearing his name!

[mediaman007]

7. Something has gone wrong for DeLay...

a. Diebold cannot help him
b. Rove made a phone call
c. There must be a lot more to hide
d. Can you say plea bargain
e. all of the above

[calimary]

26. Might also be that he's not man enough to fight it out, knowing he's about

to lose. Perhaps he's seeing the trends, the handwriting on the wall, and if he's this blustering, bombastic, "I AM the government" arrogant, swaggering, power-mad asshole (that it seems clear he IS), maybe his people are now telling him he probably can't win, and it'd be better to jump before he's pushed. Gotta save face, dontcha know? That way, he doesn't have to undergo the public humiliation of an increasingly likely shellacking at the polls in November - a loss so large in numbers that it'd be almost impossible to steal. If it looked fairly close, I could see him fighting it out and pulling strings and calling in favors and getting some of his buddies in the Diebold arena to "help out" a little. It's PERCEPTION. He's used to being perceived as a winner. He doesn't want loser stench all over him, and it may be starting to look more and more obvious that this IS INDEED what lies in store for him if he stays in. Gotta save face.

All I have to say is a quote from that great American song...

Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, HEY-hey-hey, goo-ood-BYE!!!

On edit, there's one added dimension to this. By stepping away, he can always SAY he would have won, but decided to take the "high road" and avoid a nasty fight that would be rough on his wonderful constituents and blah-blah-blah. What he's probably doing is trying to salvage whatever reputation he MAY still have as some sort of power-broker and king-maker as he shops his resume around to one of the lobbying outfits or maybe one of the wrong-wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute or the Heritage Foundation or some grover norquist shell group. A guy's still gotta eat and pay the light bill, dontcha know. He's looking to protect his income-earning potential once he MAY finally be out of legal trouble. Whenever THAT is...

[aquart]

28. If it's a plea bargain, why isn't the resignation effective NOW?

[Mz Pip]

8. Bummer

Just when it was getting good.

This does not mean he will disappear from the radar. As long as we don't let him.

DeLay is the poster child fro everything that is wrong about the Republican Party. Slimy, sleazy, disingenuous and totally lacking in moral principles (but I repeat myself).

DO NOT LET ANYONE FORGET WHAT DELAY HAS DONE TO THE COUNTRY!

He must not be allowed to fade into the woodwork.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Betsy Ross]

18. OH NO!

DeLay is going to become a Democrat to bring our party down. Now there's a nightmare.

[Mz Pip]

19. As open minded as we are

I don't think we would ever go that far!!! :rofl:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[WhiteTara]

9. it's Party Time!

ding dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch.

[CAG]

11. So, when does the next senate seat become available in Virginia,

where he's supposedly moving?

[saltpoint]

16. I hope Virginians have the good sense to uninvite Tom DeLay into

their political circles.

After nominating Oliver North for a U.S. Senate race, they should be much more alert to oafs and psychopaths by now.

[caligirl]

12. Will he cry too?

:cry: :sarcasm:

[Pirate Smile]

13. Geez, he must be getting indicted within the next couple of months.

I mean indicted AGAIN, of course.

[MiniMe]

14. I wonder if Josh Bolton had anything to do with this

Maybe "You have to resign for the good of the party"

[ovidsen]

15. Justice DeLay-ed is... Justice!

The operation wasn't a success and the patient... died!





A victim of his own greed.

[mcscajun]

17. Woo-Hoo!!! Happy Dance Central...

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Catshrink]

20. So what's he gonna do, go back to killing bugs?

like Edgar here?

[Zan_of_Texas]

21. Remember, he redistricted Texas and won seats for Rs

No matter what happens, he won those House seats for Rs (sort of like no matter whether BushCheney are impeached, they still got Supreme Court justices and lower court judges).

WaPo discusses that part of his "legacy".

I think there's another shoe, though, hopefully more indictments.

At least he didn't try to tell us he was gonna "spend more time with his family."


Rep. DeLay Won't Seek Reelection

By Jonathan Weisman and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 3, 2006; 11:06 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/03/AR2006040301787.html

[Judi Lynn]

22. Officials: DeLay Won't Run, Means to Resign

Officials: DeLay Won't Run, Means to Resign
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Monday, April 3, 2006
(04-03) 22:06 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texan touched by a lobbying scandal that ensnared some of his former top aides and cost the Republican his leadership post, won't seek re-election to Congress and intends to resign, Republican officials said Monday.
(snip)

It was not clear whether or how DeLay could remove his name from the November ballot, but if he did, party officials would presumably be able to select a replacement who could then run against Democratic nominee Nick Lampson.

Also unclear is exactly when DeLay reached his decision, but one official said the congressman began informing close associates late last week. That was around the same time as a second former DeLay aide, Tony Rudy, pleaded guilty in a federal corruption investigation that has reached into DeLay's office.
(snip)

The congressman told Time magazine Monday that he plans to make his Virginia condominium his primary residence. "I can do more on the outside of the House than I can on the inside right now. I want to continue to fight for the conservative cause. I want to continue to work for a Republican majority," DeLay told the magazine for its online edition.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/04/03/politics/p214636D24.DTL

http://www.gamerevolution.com.nyud.net:8090//oldsite/chatter/mailbag/roachman.jpg

[Judi Lynn]

23. From the Houston Chronicle: DeLay expected to 'step aside'

April 4, 2006, 12:23AM
DeLay expected to 'step aside'
The embattled congressman will quit the race, says a former top aide


By JULIE MASON and MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, a legendary Republican warrior in the political trenches, is dropping his re-election campaign and will leave Congress early under the shadow of the congressional lobbying scandal.

The shocking move creates a weird scramble for his seat in the burgeoning suburbs south of Houston. The state Republican Executive Committee or the party chairman in the counties in the 22nd Congressional District will get to nominate a candidate for the November general election, officials said. But first may come a special election to select someone to fill the remainder of DeLay's term through the end of the year.

"This was a political and personal decision he has made," said Richard Cullen, DeLay's attorney in Washington, D.C., who spoke to the congressman on Monday. "He just felt it was the best thing for him, for his family, and for the Republican Party."

DeLay, delivering his decision to friends and members of the Texas congressional delegation late Monday, was expected to announce his plans today.

The embattled congressman, the subject of more ethics investigations than any other member of Congress, was expected to withdraw from the race, step down from Congress and be gone by May.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3768886.html

http://www.gamerevolution.com.nyud.net:8090//oldsite/chatter/mailbag/roachman.jpg

[pnorman]

24. Tom DeLay Says He Will Give Up His Seat

The embattled former Republican leader tells TIME that he will leave Congress and not seek reelection.

Rep. Tom DeLay, whose iron hold on the House Republicans melted as a lobbying corruption scandal engulfed the Capitol, told TIME that he will not seek reelection and will leave Congress within months. Taking defiant swipes at "the left" and the press, he said he feels "liberated" and vowed to pursue an aggressive speaking and organizing campaign aimed at promoting foster care, Republican candidates and a closer connection between religion and government.

"I'm going to announce tomorrow that I'm not running for reelection and that I'm going to leave Congress," DeLay, who turns 59 on Saturday, said during a 90-minute interview on Monday. "I'm very much at peace with it." He notified President Bush in the afternoon. DeLay and his wife, Christine, said they had been prepared to fight, but that he decided last Wednesday, after months of prayer and contemplation, to spare his suburban Houston district the mudfest to come. "This had become a referendum on me," he said. "So it's better for me to step aside and let it be a referendum on ideas, Republican values and what's important for this district."

DeLay's fall has been stunningly swift, one of the most brutal and decisive in American history. He had to give up his title of Majority Leader, the No. 2 spot in the House Republican leadership, in September when a Texas grand jury indicted him on charges of trying to evade the state's election law. So he moved out of his palatial suite in the Capitol, where he once brandished a "No Whining" mug during feisty weekly sessions with reporters, and moved across the street to the Cannon House Office Building, home of many freshmen.
>
>

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040306Y.shtml

[JCMach1]

25. Hope he has his prison uniform picked-out!

:)

[truthisfreedom]

27. orange with bugs.

[trof]

29. K & R YEE. HAA.

[drm604]

30. I think maybe I've figured this out.

DeLay has decided, or been pressured, to not run for re-election for the good of the party. They want to run someone who has at least a chance of winning. That part is obvious and we've all figured it out already.

The problem with this is that DeLay has already won the primary. Apparently, under Texas law, the party can only replace his name on the ticket if he becomes ineligible to run and hold office. If he simply drops out, without actually becoming ineligible, they cannot replace him on the Republican ticket. (I've seen this somewhere but I don't recall where, maybe someone with more time can Google it.) This would mean they would essentially be conceding that district to the Democrats.

In order to become legally ineligible he's changing his primary residence to Virginia. If he does that then he is no long a resident of Texas, cannot represent his Texas district and therefore must give up his current seat.

Does that make sense?

[lovuian]

31. Go to Jail Tom!!! See what getting Bush president getcha

a ticket to JAIL... your just the first one soon you will have company...