WSJ poll: 42% don't either don't know of, or have no opinion of Tom DeLay

[Rose Siding]

One of THE most powerful unindicted co-conspirators in the country, and they don't even know who he is?

GETTING AMERICA TO KNOW TOM DELAY

House Democrats have been gunning for Majority Leader Tom DeLay long before he really drew their ire by leading a redistricting effort in Texas that cost four Dems their seats in Congress. They took solace last month when House Republicans backed away from a plan that would have changed their rules on letting a member keep his leadership post if he was indicted on criminal charges, a deal that had been put in place specifically for DeLay, who is under investigation for alleged campaign finance law violations. But DeLay had his revenge when two Republican members and some key staffers on the House Ethics Committee who were believed to be hostile to him were replaced, a situation Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi last week dubbed "DeLaygate."

Democrats hope to take their case against DeLay to the public, much like they did with former Speaker Newt Gingrich in the late 1990s. The problem: Many Americans have no idea who DeLay is. Defining Gingrich as a sort of Republican boogey-man was easy because Gingrich was the defined leader of the Republicans, had made the cover of TIME Magazine and was at one point so powerful President Clinton had to declare he was still relevant. On the other hand, when asked last month about their views on DeLay in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 42% responded "don't know name" or "not sure.” For those who did know him, DeLay was viewed positively by 17%, 21% neutral and 20% negative. DeLay, while holding major sway in the Republican Party, remains at most the fourth most important Republican in Washington after President Bush, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Leader Bill Frist. Hastert, of course, isn't a household name either; in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 25% had never heard of him and 31% had no opinion on him.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1030924,00.html?promoid=rss_nation

[aquart]

1. Well, that figures.

[liberal N proud]

2. Because people don't take the responsibility to know

what is happening and who is screwing them, they will blindly follow a lame asshole like Delay and the bus$h assholes.

[tridim]

3. I wonder how many of those 17% with a positive opinion

actually know nothing about him and just answered "positive" because they didn't want the pollster to think they were idiots. There is no way you can know Delay and not have a negative opinion of him.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

4. You'd be surprised

how many people don't even know their own congressman. We need to do a better job of teaching civics in school.

[DELUSIONAL]

10. True -- way back in the stone ages . . .

We had to know the names of all the supreme court Justices, Cabinet secretaries -- and our congressman's name etc.

We also had to take tests on the Constitution (that's when I learned that the CO of a military base is THE Constitution, after smarting off to a guard on the gate of the military base where I lived).

Anyway I'll bet information that a large percentage of people don't know who the hell he is -- really deflates Delay's ego.

[otohara]

5. Dumb Asses

all 42+% of them...

[Dulcinea]

6. Not so much dumb as apathetic.

They figure it has nothing to do with them, & besides, it's time for "American Idol."

[WI_DEM]

7. that is part of why he gets away with what he does

everybody knew Gingrich for example, and worked actively against him.

[Rose Siding]

9. We have another chance to introduce him- new ethics violations

National Journal to report DeLay violated House ethics rules
snip>
The prominent lawyer and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is being investigated by federal authorities for his lobbying efforts of an Indian tribe and his relations with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), paid for DeLay and DeLay’s staff’s stay in an expensive London hotel in mid-2000.

National Journal has obtained a copy of an expense voucher that Abramoff filed the law firm where he was then a leading lobbyist, Stone reports.

“Among the big-ticket expenses that Abramoff listed for reimbursement was a bill for the DeLays at the Four Seasons Hotel in London in the amount of $4,285.35,” Stone writes. “The voucher shows that the total reimbursement for expenses was $13,318.50. For some reason, it shows that both Abramoff and Buckham were owed that amount.

“The voucher shows that Abramoff was accompanied by DeLay and his wife; Hirschmann and her husband; and Ed Buckham, DeLay’s former chief of staff who had also become a lobbyist,” Stone continues.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=129

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Delay is a lot smarter than Gingrich in this respect

Newt Gingrich would go on any TV show that would have him. He grabbed a lot of headlines and became a household name. People developed a very negative view of him, and he became a liabliity for any Republican running for Congress in a swing district.

DeLay is content to get things down outside of the spotlight. This works to hsi advantage, because if a Democrat were to run a commercial trying to link DeLay with a Republican candidate, many Americans would respond with "Tom Who?"