Republican Backlash?

This past weekend was a bad one for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX.) In a speech on Saturday, Rep. Shays (R-CT) called for Rep. DeLay to step down as House Majority Leader, going so far as to call him "an absolute embarrassment to me and to the Republican Party." In another interview, Sen. Santorum (R-PA) called for Rep. DeLay to explain his actions, specifically the alleged ethics violation that have recently surfaced.

Reading about the attacks on Rep. DeLay, most notably from members of his own Republican party, has me wondering if we’re beginning to see a backlash to the recent, ultra-conservative behavior of some Republican Congressmen.

For example, Rep. DeLay was the one who spearheaded the effort to pass the bill moving the Schiavo case to federal jurisdiction--—something with which 70% of Americans disagreed. DeLay has also been publicly criticized for stating that the judges in the Schiavo case who refused to order the reinsertion of the feeding tube would have to “answer for their behavior,” a statement that Vice President Cheney himself later disputed in an attempt to distance the Bush administration from DeLay’s comments.

So, even though they didn't propagate these allegations—--the lobbyist-funded trips, putting his wife and daughter on his campaign payroll, etc.--—do you think the Republican Party is using them as a smokescreen to distance themselves from DeLay’'s ultra-conservatism and move back towards the more moderate center (I hope)?