DeLay: McCain = worst thing evar?

I heard a brief snippet today whilst riding home on the van that a certain former house majority leader (Tom DeLay) went on a rant on that bastion of independent media, Fox News about the Republican candidate who appeals most to independents and moderates, John McCain. Now, I am not going to do much defending of McCain; in fact, I could write a fairly vitriolic blog about what a phony he is, but that's a subject that would be best left to Alison's energies and angers. No, instead I am going to take this time to make fun of Tom DeLay (awfully french-sounding name, don't you think? Oh, it's irish? Dang.). Go watch the video; I'll wait.

OK. DeLay makes some criticisms of John McCain, and I would like to lead your attention to a few of them (Is this unfair? Should I keep in mind that this statement was not prepared and written down, but was instead ad lib and that he may have said some things that came off a little different from his meaning? After all, I do that constantly. What's that? I was never elected to public office? You make a good point. Touche.).

"John McCain himself killed our ability to drill in ANWR." - I realize that the audience for these comments is not the left, or even the center. But with the recent polar bear news and the administration's efforts to keep them off the ESA, I think that drilling in ANWR is going to become a less and less attractive option to mainstream America. In case you had not heard, the Fish and Wildlife Service decided to delay a ruling on whether or not to post them on the ESA until February 6, which gives the administration enough time to sell off all of the oil leases in the Chukichi Sea of Alaska, which is important polar bear habitat. I wish more people paid attention; this is not a coincidence.

Joseph Lieberman is "one of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate." - With the Democratic Party very close to a Senate majority, Lieberman lost his Democratic primary in Connecticut, and, rather than take it like a man, he decided to run against winner Ned Lamont as an "independent" and somehow won his Senate seat back. Lieberman now labels himself an "Independent Democrat" and does not necessarily vote party line. There's nothing wrong with not voting party line, but anybody who refers to Joe Lieberman as "one of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate" is clearly off his rocker.

"I think McCain has done more to hurt the Republican Party than any elected official I know of." - The stupidity of this statement should be self-evident. Let me direct you toward a photo:

Now to the quote again: "I think McCain has done more to hurt the Republican Party than any elected official I know of."
Photo:

Now, even considering the fact that McCain is only a self-proclaimed "straight talker" (Alison would certainly beg to differ, and I agree with her), I love the implication that straight talk (i.e. telling people the truth) is damaging to the Party. This does not surprise me in regards to the GOP. Here's a fun game: can you think of any elected officials who have done more to hurt the Republican Party? I think I can name a few.