Posted on 05/02/2005 5:24:18 AM PDT by bgsugar
Former U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey, in Houston Sunday for a conference on Palestinian issues, said he and other Republican elders are looking for a candidate to oppose U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.
"Tom DeLay is an embarrassment to the Republican Party," said McCloskey, who represented Northern California from 1967 to 1983.
He met Sunday with Michael Fjetland, who was defeated by DeLay in Republican primaries in 2000 and 2002 and as an independent in the 2004 general election.
McCloskey is one of nine former congressmen who have formed an informal group he called the "revolt of the elders," to oppose congressmen who they think are guilty of ethics violations.
"Nobody can come into a Texas district and tell the voters who to support," McCloskey said.
But, he added, that just as DeLay raises money from outside the district, his opponents in the next election will also probably get national support.
Fjetland, 55, a lawyer from Missouri City, said he is forming a committee to see if he can gather enough support to take on DeLay in the primary.
He will decide in a couple of months if he will run, Fjetland said.
"If DeLay is ever going to be defeated, this will be the time for it," Fjetland said.
"The people in the 22nd District are tired of his arrogance," he said.
DeLay was admonished three times last year by the House Ethics Committee. Fjetland said many voters are tried of DeLay acting like a bully.
He said the district is 60 percent Republican and another Republican has the best chance of defeating DeLay.
BUT beware the danger within . . . . . lest we take them too lightly, the comment about the only way to take him is in the Republican Primary has some validity and look for a possible RINO coming out and trying to get Dem's to crossover vote in the Republican Primary.
The conservatives better turn out in the Primary to support DeLay.
I wish DeLay was as smart as he is aggressive. This scandal reminds me of the bone-headed book deal that Gingrich did after fellow Republicans begged him not to.
Leave it to the RINOs to wholesale buy into the Democrat's rantings. Funny, I don't ever recall Democrats looking for primary opponents for Jim McDermott, or that goober from Virginia.
Funny, I don't see where this mentions that this "GOP" congressman endorsed Kerry and as such could hardly be considered a member in good standing of the GOP.
Will the Houston Chronicle be so charitable if lets say Zell Miller were to convene a "Council of Elders" to try to take down a prominent Dem?
Just wondering.
Bingo!
Now go back to the left coast.
Chances are these guys have something personal against DeLay, and this is the opportunity they've been waiting on to get back at him for something.
I am liking Tom DeLay more all the time. By the way, DeLay is the only Republican I don't blame for what happened to Terri Schindler. THE ONLY ONE!
This is the same idiot who told all Republicans to vote for the TRAITOR John Kerry. So if you support a Traitor then you must be one.
Hmm...sounds like the torpid "Bluebloods/RINOs" wing of the GOP are longing for "the Good Old Days of ME-TOOs" of the 60s/70s, and Pete "I wannta-be a media darling" McCloskey is there to to preen in front of the camera.
McCloskey ran against Richard Nixon in the 1972 primaries, promising to pull out of Vietnam and implement even wackier economic and environmental policies than had Nixon.
He's about as much of a Republican as Howard Dean.
Whew the Houston Chronical went all out bringing out this fossil RINO.
Bigtime anti-semite, anti-Israel kook.
..not belabor a point, $hrillary DID EXACTLY the same thing as Jim Wright's (Book, a word a page) in 1990..only difference was the media reaction. (liberals will always get a pass) Many Congress-critters, write books...check Pat Moyanhan, her predecessor. :)
That may be so, but you've got to take that into consideration if you're going to be considered "smart." Either that, or you've got to figure a way to stick it to the media when they play their hand.
I've been writing the GOP for some time now warning them of what will happen if they put too many RINOs in positions of power. I support Tom DeLay entirely. He is under attack because he is effective. If a timid GOP leaves him twisting in the wind they will lose me, my financial support, my ideological support (letters to the editor, faxes and emails to various leaders supporting Republican initiatives, etc.), my political registration and my vote.
My loyalty is to my belief system, not to a political party that no longer embodies that belief system.
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