If you look at the license plates in our state, they say "You've Got a friend in Pennsylvania." Well, here, Tom DeLay's friend in Pennsylvania is Congressman Jim Gerlach.
Here are some facts to consider:
Jim Gerlach is the only Pennsylvania member of Congress to give money to Tom DeLay's legal defense fund. Gerlach gave $2,000 to the fund. ( http://www.tray.com )
Jim Gerlach is the most vulnerable House Republican in the country, and the Sixth District is called a "bellwether for the country."
Jim Gerlach has taken $30,000 from Tom DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC. ( http://www.tray.com ) Jim Ellis, one of DeLay's associates who was also indicted, is the head of the PAC.
Jim Gerlach voted in favor of weakening ethics rules to keep Tom DeLay in power. (http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll006.xml )
Jim Gerlach voted in favor of allowing Tom DeLay to remain in power, even if he were to be indicted. (http://www.pcactionfund.org/votecount/dr.htm )
From today's Philadelphia Inquirer by Dick Polman:
"Sabato made the taint argument, citing the case of Raymond Donovan, a labor secretary under Ronald Reagan who was indicted on corruption charges and later vindicated: "He famously asked, 'Where do I go to get my reputation back?' The answer is 'nowhere.' In politics, you don't get your reputation back. Thanks to DeLay, the Republican Congress may not get its reputation back."
Stuart Rothenberg, who runs the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report in Washington, said yesterday: "This is the exclamation point at the end of the Democratic argument about Republican ethics. But it doesn't necessarily mean the Democrats can win back the House next year by making that argument.
"A lot of Republican incumbents are popular in their own districts. Can the Democrats really convince those voters that the Republican stench in Washington is so great that they should punish the party and send a national message by throwing out their own representatives?"
On the Democratic side
Indeed, polls typically show that voters usually like their own member of Congress, even when they're angry at that legislator's party.
The GOP enjoys a daunting 29-seat majority in the House, but Democrats will seek in the weeks ahead to link DeLay to targeted GOP incumbents.
This effort began within hours of the DeLay indictment. In the Philadelphia suburbs, Democrat Lois Murphy, who is trying to topple U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, pointed out that Gerlach gave $2,000 earlier this year to DeLay's legal defense fund - and a DeLay committee gave $30,000 to Gerlach's campaign."
Yesterdays's indictment of Republican Leader Tom DeLay shines a light on the abuse of power and lack of integrity in today's Washington. No other member of Congress is more beholden to Tom DeLay for campaign contributions and fundraising help than Jim Gerlach. While we could become cynical in the face of this culture of corruption, we must instead work to change the leadership in Washington. I was very excited and emboldened by the support of the netroots in 2004 and the help of the kos community who really helped to raise awareness about this race. To learn more about what we are doing, please contact my website at www.loismurphy.org and continue to interact with our campaign.
Thank you for all you do,
Lois