The ongoing problem for congressional Dems when it came to Tom DeLay’s scandalous behavior is that so few Americans knew he was. There’s no point in trying to brand a GOP candidate a “Tom DeLay Republican” if voters say, “Who?”
At least that was the problem. As the DCCC’s Jesse Lee noted, DeLay’s name recognition is getting better all the time.
At first, it was easy to believe that the storm clouds gathering around House Majority Leader Tom DeLay signaled little more than another Washington tempest. After all, most Republicans reassured themselves, hardly anybody outside the Beltway or DeLay’s district in Sugar Land, Texas, had even heard of the Congressman, much less cared about his inflammatory comments about judges or his overseas junkets that might have been paid for by lobbyists.
But not any more. Letters and phone calls to congressional offices about DeLay have picked up sharply of late, an aide to the House GOP leadership says. The Majority Leader has become a punchline for late-night comedians; two weeks ago, he was the subject of the lead skit on Saturday Night Live. And one national poll, by Democrat Stan Greenberg, shows DeLay’s name recognition at 77% — making him more famous than any other House member in modern history, except Newt Gingrich.
Lawmakers that never had to worry about their associations with DeLay are suddenly facing questions about the Majority Leader when they return home and meet with constituents.
Indiana’s Mark Souder has found himself answering questions about the embattled Majority Leader at a fundraiser in his district, as well as on the plane rides to and from home. “Nobody knew who Tom DeLay is. Now they do,” says Souder. “The stage is different now.” And Souder says Delay new prominence means he has to behave differently: “He’s got to control his anger. It’s got to be a friendlier face.” […]
But when a scandal starts to take on a momentum of its own, says Souder, who is an ardent conservative and DeLay supporter, “you have to ask how much are you hurting the movement. Tom has to make that decision. The question is, can he get justice?”
If Mark Souder, one of the House’s most consistently right-wing lawmakers, is starting to hedge on his support for DeLay — Souder voted “present” on the measure to undo the DeLay-inspired weakening of House ethics rules — then you know there’s some serious grumbling going on throughout the caucus.