DeLay Sets Up Dem Challenge

Tom DeLay, quiet since resigning his house leadership to deal with indictments brought against him by an aggressive Dem prosecutor, was pretty noisy in the polls yesterday, with a 2-to-1 victory over his GOP primary challengers.

AP would have you believe the victory was one of a slick politician over dumb Texas hicks:

DeLay, 58, held on to his ballot position by avoiding public discussions of his considerable political problems — a felony money-laundering indictment, close ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the loss of his leadership position.

Instead, DeLay campaigned at carefully orchestrated events, avoided direct interviews with reporters and largely focused on his hometown of Sugar Land. It paid off with a 2-to-1 victory margin over lawyer Tom Campbell, who had ties to the first President Bush's administration, and two other candidates.

Implying that the voters simply forgot DeLay's indictment because (1) they're GOP hayseeds and (2) he didn't care to bring it up is sheer MSM idiocy. DeLay won the nomination because voters trust him as a known (if flawed) commodity, and because they don't trust the strained and politicized charges brought against him.

The win will make November fun, as DeLay runs against Nick Lampson, who's been busy raising Dem bucks outside the district, leveraging donkey rage with the idea that they might finally be able to knock off a nemesis with a 22-year tenure in Congress. His slogan: "No further DeLay."

Let the mud fly and the money flow.