Other Columns by Paul M. Weyrich
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Newspaper columnists and television commentators consider themselves objective purveyors of current events. Former President Dwight David Eisenhower startled himself while addressing the 1964 Republican Convention in San Francisco. The President said the Republican Party should take advice from media people who do not wish the Party well. He brought down the house. He was unaware of the deep sentiment in Republican circles against media pundits. In spite of that the pundits continue to advise the Republican Party, although they admit the majority of them are not Republicans and they rarely vote for a Republican candidate.

I was surprised, although I should not have been, when a syndicated columnist called to ask if I thought House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should step aside for the good of the Republican Party. The columnist said Democrats intend to make DeLay the poster boy for congressional corruption and that this would hurt Republican Members with marginal chances of being re-elected.

I suggested that stepping down, "throwing in the towel", would be the worst decision that DeLay could make. First, it would imply that he was guilty. I have been assured by DeLay that he has done nothing illegal or unethical of which he is aware and that is good enough for me. Second, his stepping down would be a victory for the Left. It would prove that the Left could drive one of our finest congressional leaders from office merely by filing ethics charges against DeLay. If anyone thinks House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) or House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) would not be subjected to the same treatment think again. And that applies to whoever would join the House Republican Leadership after DeLay's departure.

Some ethics charges could be filed against Liberals. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently had allegations made against her by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and her other opponents who think they have solid evidence that she has broken the law. Nevertheless, conservatives could not stomach that kind of fight. While ethics charges eventually could be filed against a liberal Congressman, there likely would be little follow-through because conservatives, by and large, are not street brawlers. The liberals hate DeLay precisely because he is from the streets. He is not a Harvard-educated lawyer. He was a rodent exterminator before he was elected to Congress. DeLay had a strong stomach for that type of work and has an equally strong one for his work in the House of Representatives. That is why the Left desperately wants to bring him down. He knows how to fight.

Third, House Majority Leader DeLay wants to accomplish two things: to end abortion; and to rein in the federal judiciary. He has said so publicly and I believe that is the reason he is being punished. Both issues are in the playground of the Left. Abortion is a huge industry. The abortionists make large contributions to the Left wing of the Democratic Party. The Left has convinced itself that a "woman's right-to-choose" is a momentous issue. Even with evidence suggesting that a pro-life position helps at the polls the Left believes that this is an indispensable weapon in their arsenal.

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