49% in DeLay's own district would vote for someone else

[paineinthearse]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=650859

I don't see the need to start consider challenging Delay in '06. By then his ass will be in a federal prison, or at least in federal court.

====================

Democrats Weigh 2006 Challenge to DeLay
Democrats See Political Opening in 2006 Now That Texas Rep. Tom DeLay Faces Ethics Questions

By WENDY BENJAMINSON

The Associated Press

Apr. 7, 2005 - Democrats, who often ignored Rep. Tom DeLay's Republican-leaning district, see a political opening in 2006 now that the House Majority leader faces ethics questions and dismay over his intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. Democratic activists in the suburban Houston district have been composing a wish list of possible candidates as the embattled DeLay answers questions about his record. In past elections, the Republican who won his House seat in 1984 has coasted to victory, often with more than 60 percent of the vote. Last November he won by 55-41 percent.

This week, a Houston Chronicle poll in the district found that 49 percent said they would vote for someone else. That number has sparked the most interest in a Democratic primary in the district in years. "Now that DeLay is being pushed ever closer to the political brink, everyone is realizing that any of these challengers on his worst day might be better than DeLay on his best day," said longtime Democratic strategist Kelly Fero. Not so, said Shannon Flaherty, a spokeswoman for DeLay, who dismissed suggestions that the Republican is vulnerable on his home turf in 2006. "While he never takes an election for granted, he consistently outperforms his opponents because the voters know when it comes to the issues they care about ... Tom DeLay delivers for the people of the 22nd District," Flaherty said.

Among the potential Democratic challengers:

* Richard Morrison, a lawyer from Sugar Land, Texas, captured 41 percent of the vote with only $630,000 against DeLay's $2.9 million in last November's election. Morrison is favored by local Democratic activists who believe he deserves their loyalty for his strong showing.
* Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan, a Chinese-American immigration lawyer, could capitalize on the district's growing Asian and South Asian population.
* Former Rep. Nick Lampson, whose district was redrawn to favor the GOP and covered areas that DeLay now represents, including the NASA area and Galveston. Lampson said he has been approached by several people but hasn't decided whether to run.
* A nascent effort to draft former Rep. Chris Bell fizzled when Bell responded to e-mailers that he preferred to focus on his gubernatorial ambitions.

more......

[BattyDem]

1. Yes but ... how many Diebold machines are in his district?

:-(

[kentuck]

2. And 51% would still vote for him??

That's not good news.

[Imalittleteapot]

3. 37% voted against him last election.

49% is a dramatic change. But the previous post about the voting machines is something to consider.

[LimpingLib]

4. I thought it was 42% anyway I hope we are smart enough to...

....nominate a conservative Democrat.

Otherwise we will never hold the seat even if we win once.

[don954]

5. No, Right now is the perfect time to start campaign for

a dem in his district to replace him. Do you think the repubs wait till a few months before to draw their targets? hell no. They plan MULTIPULE elections ahead. Its time the dems set someone up in Sweetwater Texas, and start a massive PR campaign to get support.

[calimary]

7. Richard Morrison is still out there, though. Still maintaining visibility.

I agree. There is NO WAY we should just sorta hang out and hope things'll break for us. We have to MAKE it happen. FORCE it, if need be. If we sit back and wait, we're playing directly into the bad guys' hands. That's what they've come to expect from us by now, and they've been correct. These people DO plan MANY elections ahead. They started planning after Barry Goldwater deep-sixed in 1964 - for an overall conservative revolution/takeover/hijacking of the political power in this country. They went about it VERY resolutely and strategically, as though it were some big cosmic chess game. What the heck do you think all those "right" wing think-tanks have been up to, all these years?

We HAVE TO DO THE SAME THING. Think strategically. Think several moves ahead. PLAN. And don't fear or hang back or just hope everything will work out. General Norman Schwarzkopf said, during his debriefing after Gulf War One - that those who fail to plan can plan to fail. That's what every second or third sentence of his was that day - all about The Plan, The Plan, The Plan. And when he wasn't citing The Plan, he was talking about how "We Planned." I tell ya, our guys better learn this one fast.

The time to start campaigning for the takeover of this district is NOW. YESTERDAY. IMMEDIATELY after November. Before the camera crews had even unplugged and started packing up for home.

And yes, it HAS TO BE MASSIVE. A MASSIVE PR CAMPAIGN. Otherwise, it's hopeless. We have to work like, and act like, winners, if we hope to become winners.

[Mz Pip]

6. Let's just hope

that when push comes to shove they do vote against him. He is bad for America regardless of one's politcal persuasion. The Republicans are making a huge mistake by making DeLay the poster boy of partisan victimhood. It makes them look really really stupid.

Which they are.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[seabeyond]

8. gotta fix the machines in those areas

wasnt that an area you vote straight dem ticket and every so many came up for bush. couldnt get them cleared time and again, until finally they would?

[snowbear]

9. Houston Chronicle....

...did the poll.

There's the answer. ;)