Tuesday,
May 10 2005
THE IRONY FACING TOM DELAY: In his column today, the
always-insightful Charlie Cook notes an interesting piece of irony
facing Tom DeLay in 2006:
Does
DeLay face more formidable opposition if he seeks re-election
in 2006 than he did last year, when he beat neophyte Democrat
Richard Morrison 55-41 percent, with a Libertarian candidate
and an independent each garnering 2 percent? Yes.
Former
Rep. Nick Lampson, who represented about 20 percent of this
district before a DeLay-engineered redistricting, is the strong
frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Lampson might face
Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan in a March primary.
Given
the substantially greater adversity that DeLay faces today,
it might be enough to cost him 5 to 9 percentage points and
the seat.
While
DeLay spent more than $2.7 million to get re-elected in 2004,
not counting considerable outside resources that went into the
effort, this time it would likely cost upwards of $5 million.
Keep
in mind, the 22nd District is not DeLay's old rock-ribbed Republican
seat. DeLay was a team player in redistricting, and gave up
heavily Republican areas, picking up Democratic territory, as
a gesture to urge Republican members also to give up friendly
territory.
In
retrospect, he really could use that old turf. One Washington
insider privately noted that it would be ironic if DeLay ended
up being the first GOP casualty of his own redistricting plan.
INSANITY
VS. REALITY: Slate's Timothy
Noah is confused. Noah can't seem to figure out "the
working class's refusal to synchronize its politics with its economic
interests," so he wastes pixels (not to mention the reader's
time) exploring the silly argument that working class families
who support Bush are "literally insane."
Noah should
check out Steve Sailer. Sailer has actually done some research
(gasp!) and boiled the issue down to a principle he's calling
the Affordable
Family Formation:
In
parts of the country where it is economical to buy a house with
a yard in a neighborhood with a decent public school, you'll
generally find more Republicans.
Sounds reasonable
- and rational - to me. If Sailer is right, then there's nothing
the matter with Kansas at all. - T. Bevan 10:15am
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