CNN Anchor Snidely Asks Tom DeLay: ‘Think Karl Rove is Still a Genius?’

CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien talked with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Wednesday and displayed a snide attitude over the Republicans’ midterm losses. She even tried to goad DeLay into bashing Karl Rove:

O’Brien: "Think Karl Rove is still a genius?"

Delay: "Oh, yes. Just because you lose one ball game doesn't remove your genius."

O’Brien: "Really, you think that -- this is kind of a big ball game to lose. Some people might say, yes, but if you lose the big one, it actually could chip away at your title."

Apparently victories in 2000, 2002 and 2004 don’t mean anything. Earlier in the interview, which aired at 8:32am on November 8, O’Brien engaged in a testy exchange with the former Republican Congressman. After implying that voters rejected conservative ideals, O’Brien attempted to assign blame to the Vice President. This resulted in a retort from DeLay:

DeLay: "What didn't happen is we didn't articulate what we believe in and when you play not to lose, you're going to lose. We need to regroup, stand up for what we believe in, fight for what we believe in. The American people will support that."

O’Brien: "Some analysts will say actually it was articulated clearly. For example, the Vice President Dick Cheney over the weekend saying, that in fact, it was full speed ahead on the plan to stay the course, essentially, in Iraq. But, that was very clearly articulated and in fact, that articulation is what drove voters away from Republican candidates and into Democrats."

DeLay: "Soledad, that's not what he said, and you know it. What the Vice President said was we're going to win this war. We're going to fight it to win. We're not going to turn tail and run. That's what the Vice President was talking about. It had nothing to do with staying the course or using old ideas. We all know that. The President is trying to win this war. They adjust to the conditions on the ground, and they have a different world view than the Democrats have. They want to cut and run. And many in America want that to happen. I think that's really unfortunate. I'm sure they will defund the war on terror. I think that makes us less safe in America, and when the American people realize that, they'll turn on them in '08 and kick them out." 

In addition to Republican ideals and Dick Cheney, the CNN anchor also wondered how much of the results could be blamed on Mr. DeLay himself:

O’Brien: "Clearly you were to blame for the loss of your seat, which went to a Democrat, Nick Lampson last night. Do you think you're culpable for more than the loss of that one seat?"

DeLay: "No, I think the corruption issue was really important in about nine or ten different seats. FBI investigations, sex problems. I think that in those particular seats, they did have an impact. But, on all the other seats, the ones that really made the Democrats the majority, I think it was different. We took a whipping last night, and we understand that. But those of us and those Americans that want to win the war on terror, want fundamental tax reform, want to stop the culture of death, want to stop judicial activism, we're going to have to wait now until we -- until '08."

O’Brien: "So what you're saying is that people misinterpreted how the voters spoke last night by voting for Democrats in and lots of Republican incumbents out?"

DeLay: "Well, I don't think the Democrats won. I think the Republicans lost. It was- Republicans staying home, Republicans disgusted with Republican leadership. The Republicans did not appeal to the independents. This country is still right of center. And even though we're pretty evenly divided, there are more conservatives in this country than liberals. And if the conservatives come out and vote for their people, they, they win. I believe that. So the Democrats didn't win. The Republicans lost."

So, Ms. O’Brien found it hard to imagine that anyone could misinterpret the voters clear message? Interestingly, when the Republicans won power in 1994, another member of the mainstream media famously claimed that the voters "had a temper tantrum:"

"Some thoughts on those angry voters. Ask parents of any two-year-old and they can tell you about those temper tantrums: the stomping feet, the rolling eyes, the screaming. It's clear that the anger controls the child and not the other way around. It's the job of the parent to teach the child to control the anger and channel it in a positive way. Imagine a nation full of uncontrolled two-year-old rage. The voters had a temper tantrum last week....Parenting and governing don't have to be dirty words: the nation can't be run by an angry two-year-old."

-- Peter Jennings in his daily ABC Radio commentary, November 14.

Strange how these things change.

A transcript follows:

Soledad O’Brien: "Tom DeLay left Congress back in June. Many observers though say it was his corruption scandal that was one of the reasons behind the Republican collapse last night. Mr. DeLay joins us. he's in Washington, D.C. this morning. Nice to see you, sir, as always. Thanks for talking with us."

Tom DeLay: "Nice to see you."

O’Brien: "Thank you very much. Let's get right to it. Clearly you were to blame for the loss of your seat, which went to a Democrat, Nick Lampson last night. Do you think you're culpable for more than the loss of that one seat?"

DeLay: "No, I think the corruption issue was really important in about nine or ten different seats. FBI investigations, sex problems. I think that in those particular seats, they did have an impact. But, on all the other seats, the ones that really made the Democrats the majority, I think it was different. We took a whipping last night, and we understand that. But those of us and those Americans that want to win the war on terror, want fundamental tax reform, want to stop the culture of death, want to stop judicial activism, we're going to have to wait now until we -- until '08."

O’Brien: "So what you're saying is that people misinterpreted how the voters spoke last night by voting for Democrats in and lots of Republican incumbents out?"

DeLay: "Well, I don't think the Democrats won. I think the Republicans lost. It was- Republicans staying home, Republicans disgusted with Republican leadership. The Republicans did not appeal to the independents. This country is still right of center. And even though we're pretty evenly divided, there are more conservatives in this country than liberals. And if the conservatives come out and vote for their people, they, they win. I believe that. So the Democrats didn't win. The Republicans lost."

O’Brien: "Okay, so how about the role of the war in Iraq and, and the President's sort of staying the course, although he kind of changed the wording the last couple of weeks. What kind of a role do you think that had in the, the Republican losses last night?"

DeLay: "Well, certainly the Democrats put together a coalition of their, their base. Democrats voted against the Republicans because they hate the war, period. They don't want to fight this war, and we all know that. Then you match that up to conservatives that want to win this war and want to win it overwhelmingly and don't want to play games. That's a coalition that is a prescription for defeat."

O’Brien: "Let me ask you a question about what John McCain had to say last night. This I thought was pretty interesting. He said it's a wake-up call. Listen."

John McCain: "This is a wake-up call of the Republican Party. We've got to change our practices. We- Some of our people think we came to Washington to change government and government changed us."
O’Brien: "Do you think that's true that government changed you and a lot of your colleagues in both the House and the Senate?"

DeLay: "Absolutely not. I disagree with John McCain. What didn't happen is we didn't articulate what we believe in and when you play not to lose, you're going to lose. We need to regroup, stand up for what we believe in, fight for what we believe in. The American people will support that."

O’Brien: "Some analysts will say actually it was articulated clearly. For example, the Vice President Dick Cheney over the weekend saying, that in fact, it was full speed ahead on the plan to stay the course, essentially, in Iraq. But, that was very clearly articulated and in fact, that articulation is what drove voters away from Republican candidates and into Democrats."

DeLay: "Soledad, that's not what he said, and you know it. What the Vice President said was we're going to win this war. We're going to fight it to win. We're not going to turn tail and run. That's what the vice president was talking about. It had nothing to do with staying the course or using old ideas. We all know that. The President is trying to win this war. They adjust to the conditions on the ground, and they have a different world view than the Democrats have. They want to cut and run. And many in America want that to happen. I think that's really unfortunate. I'm sure they will defund the war on terror. I think that makes us less safe in America, and when the American people realize that, they'll turn on them in '08 and kick them out."

O’Brien: "Think Karl Rove is still a genius?"

DeLay: "Oh, yes. Just because you lose one ball game doesn't remove your genius."

O’Brien: "Really, you think that -- this is kind of a big ball game to lose. Some people might say, yes, but if you lose the big one, it actually could chip away at your title."

DeLay: "Well, no. Listen, there's plenty to do over the next two years. Many of these seats that the Democrats won are going to be one-term Congressmen. In a presidential year in '08, the Republicans will have every opportunity to take the House back and turn this all around."

O’Brien: "I guess we'll wait and see for that. Tom DeLay joining us from Washington, D.C. Nice to see you sir, thanks for talking with us."