DeLay leery of a President McCain

CABAZON - Former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay thinks conservative Republicans will have their work cut out for them if John McCain is elected president in November.

"If McCain wins the election, we've got just as much work to do as if Obama won," DeLay, the former House majority leader from Texas, told PolitickerCA.com. "I've known McCain for 23 years, and McCain's hard to swallow."

DeLay, who supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the primaries, disagrees with the Republican nominee on a number of issues, though he still plans to vote for him.

"His stance on global warming, immigration, campaign finance, affirmative action," DeLay said, "it's just a whole list of things that is not going to appeal to conservative Republicans. And if he becomes president, teaming up with the Democrats, we're going to have a lot of work to do to stop them."

DeLay made sure to emphasize that Barack Obama would be far worse. "Obama's awful," DeLay said. "He's as far left as anyone who's ever run for president in this country.

The former House Majority Leader thought McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate saved his campaign. "I think Sarah Palin was an absolutely brilliant move," DeLay said, citing her support from Republican women. "She has such a strong world view that appeals to these Republican women. [McCain] had no organization. Nobody had accepted him, made the phone calls or knocked the doors. With Republican women, he automatically got an organization."

DeLay was unconcerned by Palin's lack of experience. "Her experience is not an issue," argued DeLay. "She has the foundation from which she makes decisions. That's what you want. No one's experienced to be President."

DeLay was encouraged by signs that the Republican presidential nominee would be more aggressive over the final month of the campaign. "He still hasn't defined Obama," DeLay said. "He's got to get a lot more aggressive."

DeLay also argued that the McCain campaign was misusing it's most valuable resource."He's got to turn Palin loose," he said. "Let her get out there and get to work. Quit handling her. Let her be Palin. She needs to be out there talking to people, especially dealing with the local media, and get away from the national media."

The former party leader was in California Saturday night headlining the Riverside County Republican Party's Liberty Dinner, the party's biggest fundraiser of the year. Turnout was significantly less than years before, however, which DeLay attributed to competition from a few other Southern California fundraisers, including a Palin reception in Orange County.

DeLay represented Texas' 22nd Congressional District for over 20 years, and served as House Majority Leader for two years until 2005, when he was indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges relating to campaign finance violations. He resigned from Congress in June, 2006.

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Update: The headline of this article was changed to more accurately reflect Delay's statements.