After Justice Scalia refused to stay the unanimous Fifth Circuit's decision, it is clear that the options for the GOP in this district come down to Tom Delay or nothing.

Personally, I hope for nothing.

Texas Republicans on Monday abandoned their court fight to replace former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on the November ballot after being turned back at the Supreme Court.

The decision came after Justice Antonin Scalia rejected Texas Republicans' request to block an appeals court ruling saying DeLay's name should remain on the ballot.

''I think all our legal avenues are exhausted in terms of affecting the ruling prior to the election,'' said Jim Bopp Jr., the attorney who argued the Republican Party's case to allow party officials to substitute another candidate for DeLay.

All I can say in response is "No shit." But then again, given teh fact that Bopp did such a pooor job litigating this case, the result was a foregone conclusion. I noted several places in the Fifth Crcuit's opinion where the judges simply said that an argument was unavailable to the GOP because it hadn't been raised at the District Court or because it was not presented until the final stage of briefs during the appelate process. That is simply sloppy lawyering. I sure hope the Party isn't paying this clown for his services.

For that matter, I'm somewhat relieved that things have turned out that way. The local powers-that-be had gone out of their way to ensure that the replacement candidate would be State Rep. Robert Talton, who stands to the right of Tom DeLay and has very few legislative accomplishments -- but does have the advantage of being the law partner Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill. Those of us who dared oppose Talton were left out of the loop during the process of selecting a representative to the committee that would have selected the replacement candidate -- though the selectee (Kathy Haigler) did reach out to the dissidents following her selection, a move which demonstrates her integrity but also underscores the problem with process up to that point.

My personal preference would be to see Tom DeLay withdraw from the race. Remove his name from the ballot and leave us with a race between Democrat Nick Lampson, Libertarian Bob Smither, and the Green Party candidate. In such a case, I believe that many of the voters in CD22 will vote for the Libertarian. Ron paul is the cCongressman in one of the neighboring districts, so I believe that most GOP voters will be comfortable with Smither's philosophy. i also believe this will help us to get the seat back into GOP hands in 2008.

I also have words for some party officials. Tina Benkiser had better realize that she misplayed this thing every step of the way, and her support in this area is severely weakened. She conducted a power-play in Harris and Fort Bend Counties which guaranteed that the establishment-backed Talton would get the votes of at least two of the selectees to the District Exectutive Committee. That didn't even go down well with the Talton backers, who saw her interference as inappropriate. She no longer has our confidence as a competent leader or an honest broker.

And I would suggest to Jared Woodfill that he consider the reality that he has alienated a chunk of the grassroots, and that he will likely face a challenge in two years when he seeks reelection to his current position. If he wants to do what is right by the party, he had better begin mending fences if he can.

So let me say again -- withdraw, Tom, and discourage any candidate from seeking to run as a write-in, especially your little clone David Wallace. You have taken a safe seat and made it a net-loss for the GOP in 2006, so give the grass-roots a chance to grow an acceptable candidate for 2008 without your input.

Posted by: Greg at 01:15 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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