GOP support for Bugman continues to erode

Moderate Connecticut Republican Chris Shays called for Tom DeLay to step down as House majority leader on Sunday, saying;

"Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election. My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election."

Tough words, but not all that unexpected from one of the few moderates the GOP still allows in office. But it wasn't just the moderates. Now even Rick "man on dog" Santorum is getting into the action. However, he couldn't stop himself for still apologizing for Da Hammer.

Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that DeLay needs to explain his conduct to the public.

"I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves," Santorum told ABC's "This Week." "But from everything I've heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law.

"Now you may not like some of the things he's done," said Santorum, who is up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. "That's for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or not."

As for DeLay, he's still sticking to his same old song and dance about liberal conspiracies out to bring him down. This is good - the longer he stays in position, the more he drags down the rest of the party as we approach the 2006 election season.