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EDITORIAL: Proceeding Without DeLay

Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Jan. 14--WHEN one of the top contenders to become House Majority Leader after Tom DeLay's hasty retreat is the same politician who once passed out tobacco lobbyists' checks to colleagues on the floor of the House, Republicans are in a peck of trouble. With the midterm elections overshadowing every decision on Capitol Hill, the GOP would be wise to pass on Rep. John Boehner from the Cincinnati area.

The West Chester, Ohio, congressman, who led a crusade to clean up the House after the banking scandal and other improprieties in the early 1990s, seems to have lost some of his earlier indignation and settled nicely into the symbiotic world of Washington politics and money that turns on campaign contributions from influential lobbyists doing the bidding of clients like the tobacco industry.

Occasionally clients, like the Indian tribes represented by the now infamous ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, will donate money directly to leading lawmakers -- like they did to Mr. Boehner's political action committee with a gift of $32,500. Mr. Boehner strongly defends the contributions as perfectly legal and acceptable.

No doubt a rival for the leadership post vacated by Mr. DeLay, acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt of Missouri, will have a similar defense for the $8,500 his political action committee received directly from the Abramoffs.

Enough already. The most prudent Republican choice to replace Mr. DeLay, whose name has become synonymous with ethical misconduct bordering on apparently criminal, would be a lawmaker without the baggage of questionable or controversial behavior in either public or personal capacity.

Surely, there is one among the GOP ranks in the House who fits that criteria and is capable of assuming majority leader responsibilities.

The new leader may not bring the same ruthless dynamics to the job as the most recent titleholder but could at least bring a clean slate to the post -- a drastic change in culture -- and a goal to restore some dignity to a body scrambling to sidestep spreading scandal.

The only reason Mr. DeLay abruptly abandoned his iron-fisted perch of power was because the heat from the Jack Abramoff turpitude was beginning to singe his feet and make him even more of a political liability. The former super lobbyist in Washington, who recently pleaded guilty to all sorts of criminal corruption charges, was a close personal pal of the Texas congressman and the ties run deep.

The potential scope of Abramoff's hugely lucrative scheme of paying to become a key player in political agendas has numerous other politicians from Capitol Hill to the White House anxiously following the case and praying the plea bargain the former lobbyist made with federal prosecutors doesn't include them.

But if the GOP hopes to retain control of the House this year, it doesn't just need new leaders, argues a House Republican who had called for Mr. DeLay's resignation. "We need a course correction," said Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Boy, do they ever.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Blade

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