Looking beyond Tom DeLay

Looking beyond Tom DeLay
Dallas Morning News: Tom DeLay's legal future and the GOP agenda may look like they are knitted together like bone and muscle.
But Republicans will hurt themselves, and the country, if they assume they can't succeed without the indicted representative in their leadership ranks. House Republicans are embroiled in a discussion now about whether they should seek a permanent replacement for DeLay in January, or decide about his role in the House leadership team after his trial on money-laundering charges concludes next year.
Waiting isn't a good course. Even if a jury acquits DeLay on the money-laundering charges he faces -- at this point, there is no way of knowing how likely that is -- the party may not get him back for several weeks after 2006 begins. And DeLay is caught up in the federal investigation of super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In other words, his conduct has been called into question on several fronts. The Grand Old Party deserves a congressional leader with an untarnished record, somebody who commands respect, leads by example and displays the sort of integrity too often lacking in public life these days.
Busy agenda ahead
The demands facing Congress next year include creating a better immigration system, shaping up entitlement programs like Medicaid and working on education packages that keep America the world's technological leader. These issues and others, such as the environment, transcend the plight of any representative. Waiting for DeLay to return as majority leader like an injured quarterback coming off the reserve list shortchanges the nation.
Republicans have other legislators eager to make their mark on issues including the deficit, immigration and education. Reps. Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, Jeff Flake of Arizona and John Boehner of Ohio have worked hard on these topics, respectively. Why not draw upon the juice of the up-and-comers?
It's tempting to leave a party's internal affairs to its elders. But Republicans run Washington, so their decisions are long-lasting and affect all of us. They'd do well to keep that in mind more than Tom DeLay's future.