Legal Shenanigans Could Backfire

The Democrats have gotten a temporary restraining order to keep Mr. DeLay on the ballot for November. A hearing on a permanent injunction to keep it that way will be heard later this month.

They need to keep in mind that being smart legally could blow up in their faces. If DeLay gets past the Austin indictment and pulls out a squeaker with Lampson, then that strategy will blow up in their face.

As it is, DeLay has set up a loss for his replacement. The precinct chairs are moving at the speed of a glacier. By the time the sacrificial lamb is chosen, he or she will have only three (3) months to cover parts of four counties in CD22, a very diverse district. I’ve run in it four times and I still don’t feel that I’ve covered CD22 adequately -- so how people think they can do it in 3-4 months is wishful thinking at best. The candidate will also be two million dollars behind the Democrat Lampson in fundraising, and who knows what skeletons or embarrassing statements will come out of the closet. Only DeLay has the time in district and access to dollars to match it. If his legal troubles in Austin are satisfactorily resolved, he’s home free.

So using the courts to keep DeLay on the ballot could boomerang—the outcome could be the return of Tom DeLay (who will laugh in their faces and never leave at that point)...