Yes, Of Course, Tom DeLay Is The Loser Here

A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas Republicans cannot replace Tom DeLay's name on this November's Congressional ballot. Republicans still want to pursue the matter, and will bring the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Election Law blog explains, well, the election law underlying the decision.

What interests me more than the law or the Republican desire to replace DeLay, is the notion that anybody but the Democrats are actually hurt by seeing DeLay on the ballot.

Tom DeLay managed first to rise from the mundane beginnings of the pest removal industry to become one of the most powerful and effective Congressmen of the 20th century. Then he managed to push through a redistricting in Texas that if left unmolested by the courts ensures his party's dominance in that state for many years. Yet this is the person that Democrats want to face in the next election.

Having spent many years deriding DeLay's background and accusing him of all manner of corruption, the Democrats appear to have convinced themselves that DeLay is a weak candidate. They might consider that a person powerful enough to generate so much hatred and contempt from their side of the aisle may in fact have real talent as a politician. The Democrats seem to have forgotten that their adversaries will not necessarily subjugate themselves to the image Democrats have of them.

Stop The ACLU reminds us that just weeks before an election the Democrats successfully replaced Frank Lautenberg on the New Jersey Senate ballot few years ago. The courts didn't seem to mind ballot changes then, so its worth asking what's so horrible about a ballot change now. Of course, there might be a solution to the Democrats' persistence in that story: perhaps they are just protecting the monopoly on ballot shenanigans.

UPDATE: Rhymes With Right explains why he would vote for DeLay in November. The Democrats have no idea what they're doing down there, keeping DeLay on the ballot. Republicans just don't easily give up a nominee, no matter how much that nominee irritates them.

PREVIOUSLY:

• DeLay May Defy Democrat Desires
• Texas Court Delays DeLay's Retirement

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