TIME Exclusive: Tom DeLay Says He Will Give Up His Seat

[RedEarth]

Posted Monday, Apr. 03, 2006


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."

.........

The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House.

"I'm a realist. I've been around awhile. I can evaluate political situations," DeLay told TIME at his kitchen table in Sugar Land, a former sugar plantation in suburban Houston. Bluebonnets are blooming along the highways. "I feel that I could have won the race. I just felt like I didn't want to risk the seat and that 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."

Asked if he had done anything illegal or immoral in public office, DeLay replied curtly, "No." Asked if he'd done anything immoral, he said with a laugh, "We're all sinners." Asked what he would do differently, he said, "Nothing." He denied having failed to adequately supervise members of his staff, even though two of his former aides have pleaded guilty to committing crimes while on his staff. "Two people violated my trust over 21 years," he said. "I guarantee you if other offices were under the scrutiny I've been under in the last 10 years, with the Democrat Party announcing that they're going to destroy me, destroy my reputation, and that's how they're going to get rid of me, I guarantee you you're going to find, out of hundreds of people, somebody that's probably done something wrong."


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


EXTERMINATED

[sandrakae]

1. Does this mean he is going to go back to stomping cock roaches?

[Mabus]

2. If they're in his cell

and are keeping him awake.

:rofl:

[Canuckistanian]

3. Gave up his seat?

He probably sold it to the highest bidder.

[BlooInBloo]

5. Gave it up to Alonzo his new cellmate.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Do you know what happens when you run out of cigarettes, Tom?

Well, I don't, either, but it won't be a Kodak moment.

[Dr.Phool]

4. We only went after him because of his Christian faith!

:rofl: :rofl: :toast: :toast: :applause: :woohoo: :rofl: :rofl:

[American liberal]

6. I love this quote:

"I guarantee you if other offices were under the scrutiny I've been under in the last 10 years, with the Democrat Party announcing that they're going to destroy me, destroy my reputation, and that's how they're going to get rid of me, I guarantee you you're going to find, out of hundreds of people, somebody that's probably done something wrong."


Well, let's see. I believe there was a president recently who came under even WORSE scrutiny than you did, Mr. DeLay. In fact, he was impeached! But, from what I understand, neither he nor any key members of his staff were EVER indicted, let alone convicted, of ANYTHING! You threw at them Whitewater, you spent more than $600 million of MY money trying to come up with the goods and couldn't do more than humiliate him on national television for his infidelity, which really was between him and his wife! So, DeLay, excuse me for not having an ounce of sympathy for the misfortune you have heaped upon yourself. What goes around comes around, asshole! What does the bible say? You reap what you fucking sow!!! I get e-mails from the Democratic Party almost every day. Not ONCE did they say they were going to destroy you OR your reputation. In other words, YOU DID IT TO YOURSELF, YOU SMUG JERK! You overstepped your bounds and got smacked down for it. My faith in the democratic process is slowly being restored. Yay! How the mighty have fallen!