N.Y. Times has a different take on Rep. Tom DeLay than Sid -- Nov. 2 more crucial than serious ethics violations to his job security.

Today's N.Y. Times doesn't foresee DeLay's downfall as being inevitable as I more or less said in a post I did yesterday entitled "The ethics charges against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay -- The charges are serious. They go way beyond being partisan."

The article notes that DeLay could have difficulty retaining his leadership job if his party loses seats in next month's elections.

The article notes:

[Representative Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic whip,] acknowledged that it would take Republican disenchantment for Mr. DeLay to lose his leadership post, as was the case with Newt Gingrich, who faced an ethics inquiry in 1998 but stepped down as speaker only after his party lost seats in the midterm elections. One prominent Republican, speaking on condition of anonymity, echoed Mr. Hoyer's assessment, saying the elections - and not the ethics rebukes alone - would determine Mr. DeLay's fate.

Mr. DeLay has been an extremely effective Republican leader, and though he is not personally close with President Bush, the White House relies on him to push its agenda through Congress. So Mr. Bush is not likely to distance himself from Mr. DeLay, as he did with Senator Trent Lott, the former Republican leader, when Mr. Lott faced political trouble over racially charged remarks.

"Without Tom DeLay it would be complete and total chaos," said one Republican strategist with close ties to the White House. "The House would descend into 'Lord of the Flies.' "