The Left is celebrating Tom DeLay's (R-TX) resignation from Congress, but it's not quite the big win they want everyone to believe. In fact, by giving them what they wanted, DeLay just might have thrown a monkey wrench into the Democrats' entire 2006 campaign. They may have forced "the Hammer" to step down, but it was a Pyrrhic victory at best.

DeLay's resignation is the latest chapter in the increasing Democrat tendency to take politics to the courtroom. For many years, Liberals and Democrats have sought to gain through legal action what they couldn't get through legislation or vote. Judicial activism has become a serious epidemic in this country. Even the Supreme Court is not immune, inventing a Constitutional "separation of Church and State" clause, a right to abortion and changing the definition of "public use" to allow local governments to transfer property from one private owner to another. When no one will vote your way, the Left have learned, just find a friendly judge. 

From the highest to the lowest, the legal system is being systematically abused to help the Left overturn votes they lose and destroy political opponents, often on trumped-up charges. Look at the way the Left tried to destroy Karl Rove, President Bush's advisor. Rove was openly accused of "outing" a secret agent as part of a vendetta against Joe Wilson. After dragging the entire Bush administration through the mud over the issue, it turned out that no crime had, in fact, even been committed. The entire drama was orchestrated simply to embarrass President Bush and drive his poll numbers down. If only the Left could be induced to fight terrorists as hard as they do President Bush.

Tom DeLay was indicted in Texas for a crime that didn't even exist at the time he was supposed to have committed it. District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who had been promising to find some way to "get" DeLay for years, had to bring the case before six grand juries before he could find one that would hand up an indictment. According to the Republican rules of the House, DeLay had to step down from his position as House Majority Leader if indicted for a crime, which was what the Left wanted. DeLay was one of the most effective Congressional leaders the Republicans ever had, able to shepherd bills through the House and deliver votes.

Having wounded DeLay, the Left smelled blood. Aside from President Bush, Tom DeLay has been the biggest and most persistent focus of Left-wing hatred for years. Since, of course, Bush is not running for office in 2006, many Democrat-supporting groups have been using DeLay as the boogeyman around which they could rally support and bring in the money. The entire campaign theme of Nick Lampson, DeLay's opponent in the 2006 race, can be summed up as "DeLay is evil." Democrats all too often run political campaigns based on demonisation of opponents instead of issues.

DeLay took the wind out of Lampson's sails, as well as those of the entire Democratic party, by simply stepping aside. The Democrats had more or less nationalised the Texas race, bringing in donations from Hollywood celebrities and ultra-rich Liberals like George Soros (who backs MoveOn.org). The entire "culture of corruption" meme repeated ad nauseum by every Democrat who gets near a camera was focused on Tom Delay. Now the Democrats have no national theme to run on in 2006 except "let's get a majority in Congress so we can obstruct legislation, bug out of Iraq and impeach Bush." That's never going to work.

Whether you love him or hate him, you have to give Tom DeLay his due as a brilliant politician. By sacrificing himself, he has probably ensured that the Republicans retain a majority in both House and Senate in the 2006 elections. Of course, such a move would hardly be necessary if so many Republican politicians weren't almost indistinguishable from Democrats in their spending and legislation.