DELAY BACKS TV DANCE BABE
DISGRACED former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has launched a bizarre new campaign - he's supporting a sexy brunette contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" and trying to smear one of her competitors, Jerry Springer.
The ex-Texas congressman, who resigned in June after being charged with money laundering in a campaign-finance probe, sent out a mass e- mail to his supporters urging them to vote for country singer Sara Evans, who "represents good American values." In the same breath, he implored them to reject "ultra-liberal talk show host" Springer because "we need to send a message to Hollywood and the media that smut has no place on television by supporting good people like Sara Evans."
Lest anybody think DeLay has an inappropriate interest in the Missouri-born, married mother of three, he refers to her in the first line of his note as "a good friend of mine." He also points out that Evans sang at the 2004 Republican Convention and often appears with GOP candidates. "We should all support her to keep her on the show as long as possible," DeLay shills.
The campaign has sparked the ridicule of a nonpartisan political think tank, the American Progress Action Fund, which smirked, "When your efforts to control Congress are over, there's always reality-TV dancing."
Readers of the group's Web site, thinkprogress.org, are also incensed. One writes, "Are the GOP women allowed to move from the waist down? Shameless ho's." Another fumes, "Tom DeLay is rigging an election. Nothing new there."
Evans - whose hits include "Suds in the Bucket" and "Cheatin' " - was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People magazine and "Republican Babe of the Week" by the New Jersey GOP. She also has a fan in President Bush, who praised her singing at the 2004 presidential dinner and posed for a picture with her.
But she isn't just relying on GOP cheerleaders to help her chances with dancing partner Tony Dovolani next week - Evans has launched her own Web site, DancingWithSara.com, to drum up support.