Tom DeLay's second act is dancing
Tom DeLay offers living proof that F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong to argue there are no second acts in American life.
As 鈥�Dancing With the Stars鈥� fans surely have heard by now, the former House majority leader will be a contestant on the ABC program鈥檚 Sept. 21 season premi猫re. Mr. DeLay left Congress after resigning as majority leader in 2005 when a Texas grand jury indicted him on campaign finance-related charges.
"The Hammer" dances
The politician formerly known as 鈥渢he Hammer鈥� for his political toughness appeared Tuesday on ABC鈥檚 "Good Morning America" to say he had dancing in his blood and 鈥渏umped at the chance鈥� to join the cast. 鈥淚 love dancing,鈥� DeLay said. He sent a message to his Twitter followers noting that he was the oldest 鈥渃ontestant by 11 years. Have to go after that #AARP 惫辞迟别.鈥�
As Lisa de Moraes noted in her Washington Post , in the past DeLay has limited his participation in "Dancing With the Stars" to commenting on the morals of some participants.
In 2006, when talk-show host Jerry Springer was slated to compete on the program against country singer Sara Evans, DeLay sent an e-mail to 鈥淒ancing鈥� fans asking them to vote for Ms. Evans. She 鈥渞epresents good American values in the media,鈥� DeLay said, branding Springer as an 鈥渦ltra-liberal talk show host.鈥� DeLay added that 鈥渨e need to send a message to Hollywood and the media that smut has no place on television.鈥� As Ms. de Moraes reported, Evans subsequently quit the show to file for divorce from her husband, who allegedly had cheated on her.
Evidently, DeLay鈥檚 family is behind his new dancing career. Emily Miller, a Politics Daily who had been DeLay鈥檚 communications director on Capitol Hill, talked Monday to his wife, Christine. "Tommy is so excited, and he's been working out to get in shape for the show before rehearsals even start," Mrs. DeLay told Ms. Miller. DeLay鈥檚 daughter Dani DeLay Ferro said her father had lost 12 pounds from a new exercise regimen.
DeLay is embracing his inner dancer. 鈥淭his is going to be so fun and so crazy,鈥� he told "Good Morning America." The headline on DeLay鈥檚 now reads "Dancing With DeLay.鈥�
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