Posted on 02/15/2006 9:40:33 AM PST by SolidSupplySide
DeLay campaign lashes out at a primary foe Campbell called an 'outsider,' but an aide says he's a 'citizen politician'
U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, forced onto the political defensive by ethical and legal charges, went on the offensive Tuesday, claiming one of his Republican primary opponents has overstated his GOP credentials.
DeLay's campaign said challenger Tom Campbell, a lawyer, has not been active in local party politics and has not voted regularly in Republican primaries.
"Every day he proves he's nothing more than an outsider who isn't concerned with conservative issues or fighting for the priorities of Texas taxpayers," DeLay campaign manager Chris Homan said of Campbell.
Campbell's campaign countered that no pure GOP insider would dare challenge the powerful DeLay, even if he has been weakened by a Travis County indictment relating to campaign finance and a federal investigation into his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"The fact is that Tom Campbell is like you and me. He is not a career politician like Tom DeLay. He is a citizen politician," said Michael Stanley, Campbell's campaign chairman. "Tom Campbell calls on Tom DeLay to get beyond the negative, immaterial distractions and get back to the real issues that are important to the people of the district."
Republican Party officials in Fort Bend and Harris County, who have close ties to DeLay, said they had neither seen nor heard of Campbell before he filed for office.
"We wouldn't have called him a conservative as far as being a Texas Republican," said Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Harris County Republican Party's candidate's committee.
Campbell is not in agreement with the Texas Republican Party platform, Wolfe said, citing Campbell's stance against a plank to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and another that states children born in the United States of illegal immigrants should be barred from citizenship.
DeLay, who was unopposed in the 2004 primary and won with 80 percent of the vote in 2002, has said he takes all political challenges seriously. His campaign's attacks on Campbell suggest that he wants to head off any groundswell of support for the challenger, an analyst said.
"Is Campbell a threat to DeLay? I find it hard to believe Mr. Campbell is going to win a primary against DeLay. But he doesn't have to win to do damage to DeLay," said Rice University political scientist Bob Stein. "DeLay needs to win with a substantial number of votes, so he can demonstrate that he is the standard-bearer for his party."
The other Republican primary candidates in the 22nd Congressional District are former school teacher Pat Baig and lawyer Michael Fjetland.
Campbell is not in agreement with the Texas Republican Party platform, Wolfe said, citing Campbell's stance against a plank to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and another that states children born in the United States of illegal immigrants should be barred from citizenship.
I don't know what it means to abolish the IRS? There will be a taxing authority under any tax system. So that taxing authority will have a new name? So what? This is an emotional appeal that probably won't work for most conservatives.
Also, the anti-immigration plank that DeLay supports is the big fissure within the GOP. If there is a split in the GOP, it will be over immigration. DeLay has cast his lot with the pessimists in the party. Politically, I'm not sure how wise that is. Maybe the pessimists are a majority, but traditionally, Republicans have been the optimistic party.
ping
That's pretty simple: it means to "abolish the IRS."
Excise taxes, for example, are collected by the U.S. Treasury.
Texas State sales taxes aren't collected by the "Texas IRS," do you think?
The party platform calling for abolishing the IRS does so in the context of larger tax reform:
"The Party urges that the IRS be abolished and the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution be repealed. We further urge that the personal income tax, inheritance (death) tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, and payroll tax be eliminated. We recommend the implementation of a national retail sales tax, with the provision that a two-thirds majority of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate is required to raise the rate."
Now do you understand?
No. Texas state taxes are collected by the Comptroller's Office. Would it make you feel better if we renamed the IRS the "Federal Comptroller's Office"?
DeLay's six-page letter did not mention a national sales tax. I think DeLay knows that the 22nd district is far too sophisticated to fall for the siren song of a national sales tax. People in his district know that a sales tax and flat income tax are economically equivalent and that a flat income tax does not have the malignant transition problems that a sales tax would. I doubt we'll ever see any DeLay campaign literature during the primary that supports a sales tax.
DeLay campaign lashes out at a primary foe Campbell called an 'outsider,'
Sounds like a badge of honor to me.
Not knocking Delay, but that was a stupid thing to say. Especially when we see what being an 'insider' gets us...
Not to get in an argument with you, given that you are supporting Mr. Campbell, but in a primary where party regulars will do most of the voting, this is not an odd statement.
And the funny thing is that I'm sure that DeLay got my name and address because I have voted in Republican primaries before.
I am not supporting either one.
I can't. No way to vote where I don't live.
You're not arguing with me. Reasonable people can disagree.
I would like to see the letter sent out. This is the first I have heard of it.
That being said, "DeLay has done his duty, and its been good. But its time for him to do a Michelle Kwan and bow out."
I believe DeLay was in trouble and people in the 22nd were growing tired of big government Republicans, however I think they will now support him so as not to give the dims a victory.
In principles I support DeLay. Who wouldn't?
However he's not going to be effective any longer and actually will do more damage going forward by sticking to his guns.
A Campbell win is by no means a dim victory.
The only thing they might win at is DeLay's own game of cantankerous politics, which he brought on himself in some ways. And its not because he's more 'conservative' than someone else...I don't think its entirely because 'he's more effective' either.
He comes across politically as being a flaming a-hole and hence he's made many enemies.
Why go around balleyhooing when one ought to shut up and get the job done? All the balleyhooing brings unwanted attention to the cause.
Basically put its getting to be too much about "Tom DeLay" or "the Democrats", rather than the principles of conservative politics.
That rubs me wrong.
As does,"Vote for me if you hate democrats"
Or, "anything short of Tom DeLay means a win for democrats everywhere"...
Who the hell says so?
I saw that crap in Hawaii all the time except it was democrats doing it.
So we should support Campbell who is a complete unknown in local Republican circles over someone we think is being attacked by the dims? Won't happen, not this year.
Thats just it, maybe not this time, but sooner or later that bullseye on Delay is going to wear him out. If he's not gone this go around then I will give him one more(maybe)...
And when that happens the democrats are going to crow about how they won etc etc, even though they lost.
I say beating back the liberal garbage (labeled it as you will) doesn't have to run through Tom DeLay first.
Its not like anyone is advocating voting for the Green Party here.
It was Delay who pushed through the Impeachment articles on Clinton.
It was Delay who helped us win the Texas State Legislative.
This in turn led to more an effective redistricting plan which truely represented Texas as a Republican State.
Delay has earned the right to step down when he wants, not because the Democrats have him targeted with a bogus 'criminal' charge.
I think Delay did a lot in the past thats been good. No argument there.
However, either this cycle or the next he's going to go into retirement, and its going to be because of the heat he's taking. Its only going to get worse. He draws undue attention to himself.
If its because he got bold then he's a sacrificial lamb, because now going forward I don't think he would be an effective leader. He's been crippled, and I don't buy into it that its all because of the Democrats.
Everyone seems to treat him like he's the Godfather or something with everything run through him thats conservative. Its like the mafia sounds like. I don't like that.
No one is saying disrespect him or anything he did.
Looking forward he's going to be a lame duck so to speak which is why another person deserves a spot. Making it all about Tom Delay is selfish to Tom.
He wants a 40 year carreer in the House 'for himself' and thats about the only reason he's running again sounds like to me.
What would be really nice is for Tom to throw his support behind someone else and work together for a common cause. Experience does play a role, but there comes a point when even Dan Mario has to take a back seat to a rookie.
The 'heat' is the Democratic attempt to win back Congress with a coordinated attack on the Republican Congress with charges of corruption.
He has the attention of the Democrats because he has been effective against them and they hate him for it.
It sounds like without DeLay all the other Representatives in Congress just stand around with their head in the clouds waiting for direction.
Thus far the House of Representatives has not imploded since DeLay was forced by his own colleagues to step down.
Again, of course the Democrats want to win Congress, but they don't have a hope to start with Tom DeLay's district.
I like MikeA's comments on another thread,
"Anyway, I think we just have to face facts here that if Delay remains the candidate after the primary, this seat is likely to get into the hands of the DemonRats come November unless Delay is cleared by then which is unlikely since the idiot judge is going to force this road apple of an indictment into a jury trial. And I simply will not be able to handle the crowing of the Dems. on the morning of November 8th that they managed to knock off Delay. Better we should clean our own house than to get our clocks cleaned by evil people."
To me this isn't a Republican versus Soros or Democrat issue at this point.
This is a Republican vs. Republican, with one of those "former" superstars causing his own set of trouble for himself AND other colleagues in the House. DeLay is their ammo and they got enough of it to go around.
Its about keeping our motives aimed in the right direction. DeLay's campaign isn't even halfway about any issues for crying out loud. Its about how everyone is attacking Tom.
Talk about how to balance the budget or cut taxes or something. Debate the issues, which so far as I can tell hasn't happened. I don't want to listen to Tom DeLay defending himself for the next two years or more. It detracts from what should be going on.
In some places it won't matter one bit if Tom Delay is or isn't in.
At the same time, there is this whole swath of people in the middle that vote too, in other districts.
If we turn them off to Republicans because of their perceptions of the leadership, then there you have it. The House is lost.
Tom Delay has gotten too big, and other republicans have already taken the steps to put him in his place.
If we put it out there where if they take down DeLay then they take down the whole Republican machine then we've messed up royally.
We can either try to appeal to the unbending extremes of the hardcore party loyalists, or we can aim at those in the middle and get them to lean bit by bit more conservative, which I believe they are naturally inclined to do so. Elections as a whole are won in inches generally speaking.
Its politics. Its how you present the message. One can be way over on the right and still appeal to those in the middle by being rational and talking to them like they are adults.
If there is one thing I have noticed about many Republicans on Free Republic (and elsewhere) is their lack of confidence.
Delay is not going to lose his seat to a Democrat, the 22nd is a solid Republican district.
As for distractions, I think we are able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
The charges against Delay are political in nature and most Republicans believe that.
Now as for the Democrats 'crowing' on Nov.8th, I can't wait to 'crow' when we send the 'Hammer' back to the House and better yet when the charges are dropped he may even get his Majority leadership back.
People on the Free Republic are always complaining about 'Rhinos' and weak leadership, but when we get a leader who is willing to take on the Democrats and beat them at their own game, we are ready to desert him because he draws some fire.
While I agree that the 22nd is a solidly Republican district, DeLay may not be the guy to win it. In 2004, DeLay won 55% of the vote. That is a good 7% behind what President Bush has won.
And Ft. Bend County is getting less and less reliable for conservative candidates. DeLay only got in the low 50s in his home county in 2004. Fortunately, the most conservative parts of the district are SE Harris County (the population center of the district) and Brazoria County (the fastest growing part of the district). The 22nd gets more and more conservative every year, but that is not translating into support for DeLay in the pre-election polls.
That said, I'm not sure how reliable pre-election polls are for primary elections. Only ~27,000 people voted in the GOP primary in the district in 2002 (last off year election). With open primaries in Texas and low turnout, Democrats could cause trouble. And a potential run-off would be worse. If there's a run-off, we'd better hope it's between DeLay and Campbell so that we know a conservative will win. Democrats would be out in force if it's DeLay-Fjetland or DeLay-Baig.
I don't believe that DeLay's perjury in the Blankenship case is a political charge. The fact that DeLay "corrected" his testimony after the case was settled indicates to me that he knew his testimony was false. And the fact that DeLay "corrected" his testimony after settlement is as irrelevant to me as the fact that Clinton "corrected" his testimony after he settled with Paula Jones. The Paula Jones (Clinton) case is remarkably similar to the Blankenship (DeLay) case.
Tom Delay signed onto the "Fair Tax". He was going to push on it this year. That's why he's despised by so many rinos and leftists.
Tom DeLay must be scared of this primary. I've been averaging 2 direct mail campaign letters per week from him. Interestingly enough, he has never mentioned the so-called "Fair Tax" in any of them. DeLay knows his district. He knows that the voters in the 22nd are far too sophisticated to fall for the "Fair Tax".
"Sophisticated"=rinos.
I live in the 22nd district and am supporting Campbell, I have had my fill of big government free traitors.
"Fair Tax" supporters are an emotional lot. When they claim that TX-CD22 is a RINO district, you know they've gone into the fever swamps. TX-CD22 has sent Tom DeLay to Congress for over 20 years. TX-CD22 is as conservative as they come. And we understand economics here, too!
I ahve gotten three mailers this week. All went into the trash. I refuse to support this free traitor respendican.
I do not believe that Delay is up on perjury charges is he?
I think the charges are 'money laundering' for which the DA had to go to a second Grand Jury to get his indictment.
I believe that the 'crime' that Delay is suppose to have committed is transfering funds from his own campaign chest to the Republican State races.
That is same type of nonsense that Earle tried 'getting' Senator Kay Baily Hutcherson on.
This campaign is about the Fair Tax, like it or not.
The protectionists are an emotional lot, too. Campbell is campaigning on a platform of lower taxes. Therefore, I suspect that Campbell is in favor of low tariffs (taxes). I don't think Campbell would open himself up to charges of "Read my lips . . ." by supporting higher taxes.
If he wins I will either vote third party or skip that vote. He is not worth my support.
I hope you're right. We have this problem in Texas which they may or may not have in other states. It's called Old Dems running as Republicans because the Dems are washed up in Texas, except of course on the border counties. We have a retired judge running for a judgeship in our county who for 30 years ran as a Dem, now he's running as a Republican. We have no one running on the county level as a Dem. They've all come over to the Republican Party and are running in the Primary.
This guy Campbell claims to be a Republican yet they can't find where he has supported any other republicans or been a part of the party in previous years.
Tom DeLay is a proven conservative. He fought the hard battles and now the Dems are destroying him like they did Newt Gingrich. The sickening part of it is that there are Repubicans ready and willing to help them. If we don't fight for DeLay, and defeat the Dems in these tactics, no Republican is safe. I pray that his district returns him to office by a great majority, and some one puts Ronnie Earle out of office.
Admittedly it is a protest vote, but I can not support him anymore. I voted for him in the past, but after cafta and the increase in government spending I can not support hm any longer.
DeLay has been accused of perjury, but not formally. The perjury charges are true. Just like Bill Clinton "corrected" his testimony after settling the Paula Jones in order to avoid formal charges, DeLay "corrected" his testimony after settling the Blankenship case in order to avoid formal charges. To me, neither Clinton's nor DeLay's "corrections" reflect positively on either's character.
You said it all! This guy , campbell, is for "lower taxes", whatever the heck they decide that is. Tom Delay is for the Fair Tax. People know where Delay stands.
Delay chose to weaken his own district to knock off some Democrats in redistricting.
In an off year election, a solid Republican district will have a better turnout then the Democrats.
I do not see Delay having any problem with winning with over 50% of the vote.
We may not agree with everything he votes on but he is a solid conservative.
I haven't gotten any campaign literature from Campbell.
Nor, have I gotten anything negative about Campbell from the Delay campaign.
No he doesn't need to bow out. He needs to fight back. If Republicans allow the Dems to destroy their leaders with false charges, and dirty politics, they don't deserve to lead. They did it to Newt Gingrich, and they've tried to do it to Frisk. The Dems play dirty and we never fight back. Well, it's past time. This guy running against DeLay is a RINO. He has no history with the Republican Party, and I hope the people of DeLay's district stand behind him and return him to office with a resounding victory. Ronnie Earle needs to be run out of office. He is a prime example of the Old Boss Tweed Dem machine, only in Texas.
Huh? Campbell was a political appointee of 41. You must have been reading some of DeLay's lies.
I do. DeLay is polling at 22% vs. Lampson's 30%. If the conventional wisdom of an incumbant polling below 50% are true, DeLay has a lot to worry about.
If Campbell wins the primary, he's going to morph into another House RINO. Campbell lacks the leadership and the in-your-face conservatism that DeLay does. DeLay is one of just a handful of Republicans who isn't afraid of the MSM/DNC complex, hence the reason why they had to tear him down and drag his name through the mud. Campbell is going to get eaten alive.
Just what the democrats want --- Tom DeLay defeated.
Gingrich has very true character accusations against him (extramarital affair). If Republicans don't hold their candidates to higher standards of character, then we're no better than the Democrats.
If I remember correctly did not Clinton plead guilty to the charges and that was why he had his lawyer's license revoked in Ark?
Did Delay plead guilty to something?
To compare Clinton's character to that of Delay is really a bit of context dropping.
Lampson is not conservative by any means, but he is not a moonbat either. I have several friends and coworkers who lived in his old district who liked him. Delay better bring his a game if he wants to win. Lampson can play the moderater to conservate democrat well.
Let me guess who is taking these 'polls'-the Houston Chronicle?
How is Campbell polling vs the Lampson?
So in a solid Republican district the Democrat is polling better then the Republican?
Your recollection is faulty. Clinton never faced criminal charges for his false statements. He "corrected" them after settling with Paula Jones.
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