Even More Tom Delay

As The Funk posted yesterday, Republicans are starting to flee from Tom Delay suggesting that he should step down as the Majority leader in the House. Will Mr. Delay fade out of the spotlight gracefully or will he fight to retain the power and prestige that he has accumulated over the years? It will be interesting to see whether the orders to step down come from Republican-high-command and whether they are immediately followed by Mr. Delay. The Strength of the Republican party in particular the conservative movement is its solidarity. I don't know whether Tom Delay would be willing to sacrifice his political power to preserve the unity of his party. I could see it going both ways. Clearly it would be best for the Republicans if Delay steps down as Majority leader and he simply stops being such a lightning rod. What would be best for the Dems, and the one that I think is most likely to happen, is that Mr. Delay refuses to yield his power and force the Republican's into a nasty position. They would either have to act to get rid of Mr. Delay, and he clearly has his supporters and it will divide the party, or they could leave him be and simply try to distance themselves from him. This would leave Mr. Delay as a campaign issue, which would be great.
No matter which road the Republican party chooses it will deflect attention from President Bush's agenda on Social Security. Good luck conservatives.