TOM DELAY'S NEW ROLE

Tom DeLay’s impending resignation from the House is smarter strategy than people realize. Here’s why:

“This was never going to be a campaign about issues.” It was purely “politics of personal destruction.” Abundantly clear that this race was all about him, he chose the greater good of the party over his own interests. His decision was about “keeping the conservative movement alive and strong.” If engaged in an ugly battle, his message would “get watered down and minimalized.”

It isn’t surprising that Democrats don’t have fresh or appealing. They haven’t for ages. They’re nothing if not the “Party of Focus-Grouped Slogans”. All style, no substance. Which brings us to Nancy Pelosi’s most-repeated slogan: “Culture of Corruption.”

She’d painted a big red X on Mr. DeLay’s chest as Exhibit A of that culture. Ms. Pelosi, she of the hairdo that wouldn’t waver in a Oklahoma windstorm, was practically salivating to trot that line out this fall. Now her main target is gone. It took her four years as minority leader to develop a campaign slogan. God knows when she’ll develop another.

It’s doubtful it’ll be this year.

Salena Zito notes that “DeLay won his primary the old-fashioned way: We knocked on doors and hit the streets and talked about issues” and that is what each individual candidate needs to do. “The candidates for the midterms have to go into their districts and show their vision for the future.” DeLay is confident about the midterms. “We are not going to lose seats…Just watch: We are going to gain them…But first we have to admit that we are in trouble, people want to see leadership, and we have to give them that. “

I don’t know that the GOP will win seats in the House but he’s right about getting out there and connecting with voters. It can’t be accomplished any other way. Sharing a vision of the future is what’s created the GOP majority. It’s the only way to maintain and/or increase that majority.

Here’s one last observation from Ms. Zito’s column:

“Republicans have to stick to what they do best…We have to prove that we are the party that will continue to protect our country from the war on terror.” And just as importantly, he added that “we have to secure our borders. If the Senate passes anything that resembles the McCain-Kennedy Act, it can’t work…It is a disaster and the House has to keep that from happening.”

Exactly. This is what’s getting the most visceral reaction from voters this year. You can’t get cute with it like McCain and Kennedy are attempting. Their ‘method’ is “too clever by half”, as the saying goes. You can’t try and sidestep it. Deal with it.

Thanks go out to DeLay for being a team player, someone who cares about the conservative movement.

Let’s just hope the boys in Washington figure things out.

Technorati Tags: DeLay, Pelosi, Culture of Corruption

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog