Inside the Tom Delay Resignation

A "high-level Republican operative" tells Ankle Biting Pundits that Rep. Tom DeLay's resignation was planned even before his recent Texas primary victory.

"DeLay deliberately waited until after the primary had run its course to dropout of the race for Congress. The reason being: so that party higher-ups coulddecide who the GOP nominee would be, not the Republican primary voters. You see,now that the GOP nominee slot will be vacant, Texas Republican honchos canhandpick the new and improved nominee -- in the proverbial smoky backroom, nodoubt."

Meanwhile, CQ Politics says replacing DeLay may take months.