Republicans shouldn't be too frantic to divide the blame for their election debacle last Tuesday - there's plenty to go around. And Tom DeLay can have seconds.
The Republican leader from Sugar Land boldly managed to weaken the Republican hold on power in the Texas Legislature, lose the U.S. Congress to the Democrats and lessen the status of Texas in Washington, all while under indictment for money laundering.
Helped by a Republican surge in 2002, DeLay waged an aggressive campaign to gain Republican control of the Texas Legislature by helping an organization, Texans for a Republican Majority, that indirectly funneled corporate money to eventually victorious Republican candidates. Tom Craddick took over as speaker of the House, and with loyalty to the principles of corporate welfare and fiscal austerity for everyone else, proceeded to run the show with Stalinist discipline.
Craddick coerced Republicans in the Texas Legislature to vote in favor of bills such as education proposals that added no money to education or for budgets that cut more than 100,000 children from health insurance programs, even though these bills were unpopular with voters back home.
So after losing seats for 30 years straight, the Democrats gained one seat in the Lege in 2004 and six this year. As a result, the spring legislative session might find itself with 81 Republicans to 69 Democrats. These numbers are certainly not like Idaho or Utah, but they give Democrats hopes at overturning Republican dominance in Texas.
In the meantime, the Hammer may be headed for the slammer because of his methods in getting that Texas Republican majority. While DeLay had been successful in tying the state of Texas to the Republican Party, his efforts eventually helped bring about the fall of the Republicans and Texas' corresponding lack of influence.
He, along with Craddick and company, engineered the tumultuous mid-decade redistricting plan for Texas' federal Congressional delegation, which helped poison the atmosphere in the state Legislature. The gambit kicked out many senior Texas Democrats from Washington and brought in a majority of junior Republicans to represent Texas in Congress, but it backfired when the Iraq war and DeLay's brand of sleaziness helped turn off America and turned the Republicans out of the majority.
According to CNN election-day exit polls, 42 percent of voters deemed "corruption" a major issue, a number undoubtedly heightened by the image of DeLay's smiling mug shot. Looking at the broader picture, the Democrats are in charge, and now DeLay's band of bomb-throwers in Congress find themselves in an impotent position. Meanwhile, the former Republican leader has left the state to work as a lobbyist in Virginia, although the jailhouse might call him back.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a chief target of the redistricting plan, is back representing Austin in D.C., and DeLay even managed to turn his own district over to a Democrat. DeLay raised money for his race from gullible supporters, won the primary, then dropped out to use that money for legal defense funds while expecting to get another Republican on the ballot to replace him.
The ploy was a little too cute: Republicans could not legally get another nominee on the ballot, forcing the Republican party to spread the word about a write-in candidate. Despite the effort, Democrat Nick Lampson won in the district, which has a 2-to-1 Republican majority.
One explanation can't contain all the reasons for the Republican loss. The Iraq War, corruption, inability to manage a government and six years of scorched-earth politics all took their toll. DeLay deserves his special share of blame, as well as his enablers in the state government. He controlled Congress in Washington, and, using his brand of ideological warfare, pulled the strings of the Texas Legislature as well. It is no coincidence that as his political and personal livelihood went down the gutter, DeLay has taken the state and national party down with him.
And while Tom Craddick, state leaders in Austin, and Republicans in Washington deserve no sympathy for taking a joy ride with DeLay instead of governing, Texas has been severely weakened by their blind allegiance to the Hammer.
Lovegren is a government and history senior.
Be the first to comment on this article!