{"id":5453,"date":"2005-10-05T13:50:23","date_gmt":"2005-10-05T17:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/?p=5453"},"modified":"2005-10-05T13:50:23","modified_gmt":"2005-10-05T17:50:23","slug":"delays-already-limited-support-slips-some-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/delays-already-limited-support-slips-some-more\/","title":{"rendered":"DeLay’s already-limited support slips some more"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we last checked in on the Hill to gauge Republican reaction to Tom DeLay’s mounting<\/a> legal troubles, we found two GOP lawmakers returning contributions<\/a> from DeLay’s political action committee. Undeterred, the up-until-recently House Majority Leader has stayed on the offensive, lashed out wildly<\/a> at his real and imagined critics, and worked to rally his conservative allies to support him in his time of need.<\/p>\n

Has it been going well? Not so much<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fear among DeLay loyalists – and the hope among those who prefer that he not return as majority leader – is that an extended forced absence from the post will diminish his stature and erode support among rank-and-file Republicans who had believed his effectiveness outweighed his liabilities as a political lightning rod.<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers are already making up their minds. A spokesman for Representative Kenny Hulshof, the Missouri Republican who headed ethics committee investigations of Mr. DeLay last year, told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Mr. Hulshof would oppose Mr. DeLay’s return as leader no matter what the legal outcome.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Keep in mind, Hulshof is not some moderate in the Chris Shays mold. Hulshof enjoys a 100% rating from the Chamber of Commerce, a 96% rating from the American Conservative Union, and a 92% rating from the Christian Coalition. Nevertheless, as an ethics committee member, Hulshof saw some of the evidence against DeLay — and he’s decided he no longer wants the guy as a GOP leader.<\/p>\n

What’s more, Hulshof also became the third<\/a> House Republican to distance himself from DeLay’s tarnished contributions. Hulshof wrote a $14,500 check to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to offset the amount DeLay’s PAC had given him.<\/p>\n

It’s becoming an issue for House Republicans nationwide.
\n
\nIn Kentucky, for example, Rep. Geoff Davis (R) is facing increasing pressure<\/a> to return $30,000 in campaign contributions he’s received from DeLay. In fact, it appears to be part of a coordinated effort.<\/p>\n

Several Northern Kentucky residents reported receiving automated phone calls from a group that identified itself as We The People. In the call, a women said she is delivering an “ethics alert” and that Davis received “$30,000 in tainted money” from DeLay’s federal Political Action Committee.<\/p>\n

The women then urge people to call Davis’ Northern Kentucky field office in Fort Mitchell to lodge a complaint about the contributions from DeLay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A spokesperson for Davis said his office had received about 200 calls about DeLay, but they were split down the middle, half in support, half in opposition.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are facing similar pressure in Iowa<\/a> and Connecticut<\/a>, among other places<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The DCCC has even started a petition drive<\/a>, encouraging constituents of Republican lawmakers to “return DeLay’s dirty money.” (There’s even a list of states with members who’ve accepted DeLay contributions.)<\/p>\n

All of this couldn’t have happened to a better guy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we last checked in on the Hill to gauge Republican reaction to Tom DeLay’s mounting legal troubles, we found two GOP lawmakers returning contributions from DeLay’s political action committee. Undeterred, the up-until-recently House Majority Leader has stayed on the offensive, lashed out wildly at his real and imagined critics, and worked to rally his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}