Dick Polman at the The Kansas City Star has an insightful piece about how the GOP faithful are rallying around their man, Tom DeLay, and what that means:

The Associated Press reports that:

Retreating under pressure, Republicans on the House ethics committee said Wednesday they were ready to open an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing against Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet notes that the "drip, drip, drip of negative stories" about Tom DeLay "dashes" any hope he had of succeeding Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) as Speaker of the House. The Boston Globe reports that Tom DeLay is becoming a liability for GOP members facing tight races.

Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) calls on DeLay to step down.

Who will be next?

We released the following statement:

Watchdog group applauds Shays on DeLay statement; Will unveil ads in three more Congressional districts

The Tri-Cities Herald in Ethics Committee Chair Doc Hasting's district writes up the Washingto state Republican's place in the center of the DeLay battle. We began running ads in Hastings' district on Thursday:

The "virtual" room was packed at this morning's telephone press conference announcing Public Campaign Action Fund's and Campaign for America's Future's ad launch criticizing Tom DeLay. More than 30 reporters were on the call, representing mainstream outlets such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, the Associated Press, Reuters, and the National Journal. Stay tuned for coverage.

Public Campaign Action Fund is unveiling three TV ads today in a campaign to take Tom DeLay's scandals directly to members of Congress. Tom DeLay is a walking scandal, and Republicans should answer for why they continue to let him be their leader. He should resign immediately.

The story.

Pretty clear retribution here.

Up-to-date vote count on DeLay Rule.

I am starting to get more reports in about letters and phone calls. Here are some emails from readers.

M.K., constituent of Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA):