DeLay Rule Overturned: Bloggers' Symbiosis with Mainstream Media

NY Times: House G.O.P. Voids Rule It Adopted Shielding Leader. Stung by criticism that they were lowering ethical standards, House Republicans on Monday night reversed a rule change that would have allowed a party leader to retain his position even if indicted. Lawmakers and House officials said Republicans, meeting behind the closed doors of the House chamber, had acted at the request of the House majority leader, Representative Tom DeLay, who had been the intended beneficiary of the rule change.

A great deal of that criticism had come from bloggers, who in turn were egging the mainstream media on in a story that ultimately would not go away. The stench from DeLay's sleaze was too much in the end even for the Republican majority that had been so casually consigning ethics to the trash heap.

I'd give two blogs special credit. One is Talking Points Memo. The other is the Daily Delay. They kept up the pressure, and made a difference.

Something especially important occurred with these two blogs. They asked readers to call their Republican members of Congress and ask how they voted on the original secret vote to give DeLay a break. Readers responded in droves. This surely helped keep the pressure on the Republicans as well.

It was also a demonstration of what I like to call "distributed journalism," and it's something I plan to incorporate -- in a big way -- into my project over time. I'll be talking more about this notion in a subsequent posting.

Comments

["-"]

Now we're doin' it. This is _so_ much like 1776, I can't believe it. We can speak and make ourselves heard.

We're no longer outnumbered by the House and Senate. And it's a really, really great day.

Keep 'em workin' at democracy, eh?

URL email: "-"

[hey]

Dan, I hope you just don't blog about blogging.
I liked your tech coverage.

[Gerald Buckley]

Keep in mind Lady Justice wears a blindfold :) In the purest sense she doesn't much care if it's Delay or Daschle. And I DO think it's great that the US gov't could be headed back to being a Democratic REPUBLIC (of the people for the people). Been out of "our" hands far too long.

Great blog and congrats on the new gig. You'll do great!

[whocares]

It is definitely good news that technology might empower We The People. It is very ironic that it comes right after technology was used to strip us from the right to have our vote counted.

Another hopeful battle is going on right now. Thanks for calling your senator to opose the certification on Thursday. Support Rep John Conyers Jr. and the hundreds of people who want to know what really happen on nov 2

[whocares]

the link to your action:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0103-32.htm

[Dr. Weirdly]

I don't think it was blogs that did it. The Republicans got all kinds of bad press from the big media.

[David Donnelly]

Thanks, Dan, for the post, and for the plug of the Daily DeLay. I apologize up front for the length. I offer this comment as a student of what I am practioning -- in other words I am learning as I go, and was fascinated by the critical comments from those who linked to this post.

My caveat: I'm a newcomer to and experimenter with "distributed journalism" and "open-source" politics. I run campaigns. My old motto was delegate delegate delegate, micromanage micromanage micromanage. I'm changing my tune.

From my perspective, there are at least two and maybe three things that happened because of blogs that led to this victory:

1. Members of Congress felt the heat. First bloggers, then journalists, and then organizations stoked these constituent phone calls, emails and other acts of outrage. Josh Marshall challenged readers, and then reporters at local papers to call their Reps. Organizations, including mine, saw opportunity to engage a dispirited memebrship after the election. But it wasn't big media harping on this driving people to pick up the phone to call lawmakers. (That doesn't happen often, and only does with long saturation.)

2. DeLay didn't have the votes. But no one -- especially the Democrats -- would have known that fact if it weren't for the Daily DeLay blog keeping track. Fifteen minutes before DeLay announced he was reversing his rule, a reporter and I had an email exchange in which I unsuccessfully insisted DeLay didn't have the votes. (He later apologized.) The callers from TPM and org email lists identified who was where and reported it to us. The Dems saw an opportunity because we had identified that 23 GOP members of Congress were willing to oppose the DeLay Rule. That number, plus all the Democrats, were sufficient to force DeLay to decide to avoid the embarassment of losing on a public vote.

3. DeLay has becoming an ethical albatross. The more he overreaches, the more other moderate GOP, and those in competitive districts, stay away. This is amplified by bloggers.

It is yet to seen if this represents a trend, an aberration, a blip, an opportunity. But what it represents is a victory for citizens holding elected officials accountable. And I don't see how it would have happened without bloggers driving it.

[nohelp]

It's obvious Delay has been tipped that he's not going to be indicted. So he gets publicity for backing off the rule change that's no longer needed. There is no change of heart or sudden wish to have ethics! And only a hollow victory for blogs.

[Dana Richardson]

Dan and folks: It seems to me that you have hit it right on the head - that something is indeed taking place, we must start to care - and it has the appearance of gasoline to the fire. We badly need, as Americans, and members of the representative system, to input to those who make the rules. There are several problems that seem inherit in that system at present, not the least of which is total detachment from the reality of the represented, by those supposedly representing their input. The second is more monstrous, and it is that second one which I believe your apt point contrasts so splendidly- Edmund Burke- "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Lest we become the unconcerned, led by the unaware, toward the unknown, we probably ought to start to give a flip, you reckon?

[Tim]

Read this article by Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/01/06/hasterts_house_of_unexamined_ethics/

Apparently, this ethics "win" actually is a loss because the new rule that replaced the old one weakens the ethics machinery of Congress: now you can't be investigated if the ethics panel is deadlocked and since the panel is made up of equal numbers from each party the ethics process has become more partisan, not less. Sad but not suprising.

I hope the two bloggers you mention, and others, will not be hoodwinked for long, though.

Tim

[Bob]

Bla blah

[Republican shill]

So where in this piece of journalism do we learn that Democratic leadership may continue to serve when indicted, since the Republicans have higher ethical requirements than the Democrats on this issue?