Washington, DC — Regardless of one’s opinion of Tom Delay, the overtly aggressive and high visibility press strategy he and his handlers have employed to combat his “criminal indictment” at the hands of Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle has been impressive.
Immediately following his indictment, DeLay held a Capitol Hill news conference, blasted Earle, stated his innocence, and took no questions. Perfect — pictures and a counterattack to balance out the story.
Following his Capitol Hill news conference, DeLay completed interviews on CNN, Fox News
and MSNBC, during which he repeated his personal denunciations of Earle, in addition to portraying himself as a victim of concerted Democratic effort to undermine his political standing.
DeLay also held a conference call that day with local reporters in Texas, followed by radio interviews on national and Texas radio stations. And Roll Call notes that even as he was shifting operations from the Majority Leader’s suite in the Capitol to his personal office in the Cannon House Office Building, DeLay kept up the media blitz with more TV and radio interviews, which included additional appearances on Fox, a session with the Christian Broadcasting Network and still more radio interviews.
On Friday morning, after meeting with House GOP leaders, DeLay flew to Texas and held a rally with supporters at the Hess Club in Houston, which dominated the local news. He then returned to Washington to prep for an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace.
Despite the deep hole he’s in, DeLay couldn’t possibly be doing a better job of keeping Earle on the defensive as well as staying even or one step ahead of the news cycle by offering fresh comments and attacks.
A strategy of this nature is directly contrary to the advice always tendered by the defense lawyers who fear providing more grist to prosecutors through unforced errors committed during interviews. Kudos to Kevin Madden, DeLay’s new press secretary, and the communications strategists behind the press offensive. Now the challenge is maintaining the pace, and waiting and hoping for a new, significant news event to crowd out their story — providing time to rest, recalibrate and reload.