| Private GOP tensions over Tom DeLay's ethics controversy spilled into public Sunday, as a Senate leader called on DeLay to explain his actions and one House Republican demanded the majority leader's resignation.
"Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election," Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., told The Associated Press in an interview, calling for DeLay to step down as majority leader. DeLay, R-Texas, who was admonished by the House ethics committee last year, has been dogged in recent months by new reports about his overseas travel funded by special interests, campaign payments to family members and connections to a lobbyist who is under criminal investigation. A moderate Republican from Connecticut who has battled with his party's leadership on a number of issues, Shays said efforts by the House GOP members to change ethics rules to protect DeLay only make the party look bad. "My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election," Shays said. Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that DeLay needs to explain his conduct to the public. "I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves," Santorum told ABC's "This Week." "But from everything I've heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law. "Now you may not like some of the things he's done," said Santorum, who is up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. "That's for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or not." |
By itself the comments by Shays would be big news. Huge, in fact. Here's one of the last remaining moderates in the Republican Party stepping up to call for DeLay's resignation! But combined with Rick man-on-dog Santorum's call for DeLay to come clean? Wow. This weekend wasn't good for Tommy boy, was it?
I must say though... Santorum's comments make no sense. He thinks there's enough of a question that DeLay should address the issue directly, but at the same time believes that we should wait two years to pass judgment on him? Forget the moral issues with that for a moment. From a purely political viewpoint that just makes no sense. Does he really think that if DeLay steps up and starts talking that the controversy will die down? That's an awfully naive point of view for someone who has managed to get elected to the United States Senate. Which makes you wonder... what was he really saying?
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