Politics is a necessarily tough business, and it is exceedingly rare that a party leadership post is given out of gratitude for past services rendered to the party. Whether it was Maggie Thatcher being thrown over as Tory Party leader and prime minister, Newt being forced out as speaker, or now Tom Delay being shown the exit -- parties have every right, and indeed a duty to its constituents, to mercilessly shed no longer useful leaders.
Even the immortal Winston Churchill was shown no gratitude by the British electorate after he had led them to victory in WWII and was then summarily defeated at the polls.
It became evident earlier this year that Tom Delay's time had come. Although he had been arguably the most able floor manager since Lyndon Johnson in the Senate in the 1950s, allegations-- fair or unfair-- undercut his capacity to further lead.
That is why on the weekend of Jan. 6 this year, party leaders quietly urged Tom to give up not only any claim on returning to the majority leader's slot, but also his now vulnerable Texas seat. That is why on the Jan. 6 broadcast of "The McLaughlin Group" I predicted that he would give up his leadership claims within a week -- and probably his house seat thereafter. He gave his leadership claims up the next day, and his House seat earlier this week.
But if a party has a right to act ruthlessly in its self-interest, it also has a duty not to cave to the other party or its media allies. A party should get rid of its leaders on its own schedule -- not its opponent's. That is why last year, when Democrats were calling for Tom's blood, I wrote a rhetorically violent column urging the GOP not to throw him over. The GOP did stand firm with him then -- and, in fact, gave him a big party. These things are a matter of tribal pride.
Tom has served the Party magnificently over the last two decades -- both as a principled conservative legislator, and as a shrewd and tireless political operator. And he has had the good judgment to exit on his own two feet. Both the Party and the country are stronger and better for all that Tom Delay has contributed.
So as a not-always-ally, I wish him Godspeed on the next leg of his journey.
Tony Blankley
Tony Blankley, a conservative author and commentator who served as press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, when Republicans took control of Congress, died Sunday January 8, 2012. He was 63.
Blankley, who had been suffering from stomach cancer, died Saturday night at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, his wife, Lynda Davis, said Sunday.
In his long career as a political operative and pundit, his most visible role was as a spokesman for and adviser to Gingrich from 1990 to 1997. Gingrich became House Speaker when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 1994 midterm elections.
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