The Tom DeLay Litmus Test

By Cenk Uygur, AlterNet. Posted March 29, 2005.

Republicans have done a great job of painting Democrats as out of touch with Red State values. They have driven Democratic candidates nearly completely off the Red State maps. This is one of the principle reasons the Democrats lost significant ground in the Senate in the 2004 election.

So, doesn't it make perfect sense that the Democrats return the favor? They need to drive the Republicans right out of the Blue States. The problem is there are still many Republicans masquerading as moderates but consistently voting with the Tom DeLay's extremist policies. You get to vote with the Christian right or you get to call yourself a moderate – but not both.

The question that the Democrats need to ask Republican legislators in the Blue States is: Are you with Tom DeLay or against him?

If you're with Tom DeLay, great. Stand next to him and be proud. If you don't agree with him, prove it.  If you're against his policies, then vote against them.

The fact is moderate Republicans have lost the power struggle within their own party. They have no voice and no power. We should rub their faces in it and out them to their constituents. If they don't like the fact that they no longer have say in how the party gets run on the national level, they should revolt and demand more power. If they do like how Tom DeLay is running the party, then their constituents should know that fact.

I don't believe there are very many people in the Blue States who would stand for having Tom DeLay as their representative. However, there is no difference between your representative and Tom DeLay if DeLay strong-arms your representative into voting for every one of his policies.

Make all the Blue State Republicans take a Tom DeLay litmus test until they renounce him and what he stands for – or run them all out of office.

Why are Blue States tolerating so-called moderate Republicans who keep voting with their hard right wing compatriots? Make them accountable. Unless they renounce the extremists who have taken over their party, there should be no Republican left standing in the Blue States.

Tom DeLay never speaks during Republican conventions, even though he is the House Majority Leader and the most powerful Republican in Congress. Do you think that's a coincidence? Of course not. They know the American people wouldn't be comfortable with DeLay's extreme views. So they hide him in the dark corners of their party. It's time to bring him out into the light.

And bring all the Blue State Republicans with him.

This piece originally appeared on Uygur's blog, The Young Turks.

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