Did DeLay Take One For The GOP?

It's always great to wake up to news like this:

Succumbing to scandal, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he will resign from Congress in the face of a tough re-election race, closing out a career that blended unflinching conservatism with a bare-knuckled political style.

"I have no fear whatsoever about any investigation into me or my personal or professional activities," DeLay said in a statement to constituents. At the same time, he said, "I refuse to allow liberal Democrats an opportunity to steal this seat with a negative, personal campaign."

I'm not sure what all this means. For example, will there now be a special election to replace DeLay?

I watched FoxNews' coverage on DeLay earlier this morning -- I always watch Fox when the GOP gets some bad news. Of course, FoxNews' anchor was minimizing everything, saying stuff like "DeLay has effectively removed himself as a punching bag for the Democrats in the run-up to the 2006 Mid-Terms."

We'll see.

UPDATE: Others in the Corporate Media are starting to take up FoxNews' lead and are spinning DeLay's resignation as a defeat for the Democrats. This is from the ABC News blog (via Josh Marshall):

When an email from an aide to the House Democratic leadership arrived this morning saying, "The Republican culture of corruption goes much deeper than DeLay," it became immediately clear that Democrats are a bit concerned about losing their most prominent face of the corruption scandals swirling around Washington as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) resigns from his seat and removes himself from the ballot for reelection.

Tom DeLay's departure from the scene also seems to indicate that Republicans believe this year's midterm election is going to be extremely close. Control of the House of Representatives very much hangs in the balance. DeLay, a loyal and dedicated leader of the Republican Party, would never want to jeopardize the party's hold on power and clearly believes getting out of the race is the best way to insure a Republican will continue to represent his Houston-area district when the next congress convenes.

"It will no longer be a national race like it was," declared DeLay.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I really do think that a political party is hurt when a top leader in that party is forced to resign in disgrace.

UPDATE II: OK, the real story behind DeLay's resignation is beginning to emerge:

By stepping aside so early in an election year, a lawmaker "wouldn't be spending to be reelected" and could transfer the funds immediately to fend off any federal charges, said lawyer Kenneth A. Gross, a former head of the FEC's enforcement division. The last lawmaker to gain the FEC's formal approval for such a transfer was Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), who resigned last November after pleading guilty to evading taxes and accepting bribes.

I'm liking the sound of that.