Let’s tally up the past couple of weeks for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, exclusively looking at how his friends on the right think of him:
* Two weeks ago, an anonymous GOP lawmaker told the New York Times that DeLay’s ethical and legal troubles may very well force him from his leadership post. The unnamed member said, “I don’t know if it is tomorrow or next year, but it is inevitable.”
* A week later, another anonymous Republican lawmaker questioned DeLay’s judgment in handling the Schiavo case and its impact on the caucus. “A lot of members are saying, ‘Why did you put us through this?'” the House member said.
* The Wall Street Journal editorial board, as reliably conservative as any in the nation, published an item a few days later saying that DeLay’s real fault “lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out.”
And now, even anonymous White House officials are contributing to the talk.
Top party strategists expect DeLay to hang on at least through 2006, but fret about battering from Democrats and conservative pundits. “We may be reaching a tipping point,” says a White House adviser.
I remain skeptical about whether Republicans have the courage and character to purge their own corrupt House leader, but at this point, the momentum seems to be running against him.