He's back.  Again.  Over the weekend, the Houston Chronicle caught up with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped personify the pervasive culture of corruption:

Nearly two years into his self-imposed retirement from Congress, Tom DeLay doesn't seem discouraged by an indictment he still faces in Austin — charges, he has said, that were pressed by a Democratic district attorney motivated by partisan politics. Nor is he put off by the dismissive treatment he's received from some fellow Republicans. Indeed, he's trying to climb a new ladder in politics.

"I think it's going to be a slow but successful path toward the top again, but in a different venue," said Jonathan Grella, his former press secretary. "To expect or hope that he's disappeared or somehow dispirited is to misunderstand the man.

"He's the last person in Washington anyone would bet against."

DeLay also co-founded a new conservative grass-roots organization last year, which he hopes can come to rival the influence of liberal groups like MoveOn.org. His group, the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, DeLay told the Houston Chronicle, is "a statement of where the conservatives are."

"They're very energized, but they're looking for leadership," he said.

Yet he faces challenges in gaining traction beyond hard-right loyalists as he tangles with a Republican establishment eager to leave behind scandals surrounding imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a so-called culture of corruption that some say DeLay, fairly or unfairly, came to symbolize.

 

What he's doing now

Undeterred, DeLay is soldiering on with what friends call unquenchable cheeriness. In addition to the grass-roots group and frequent TV commentary, DeLay heads a consulting firm, First Principles, and sits on the board of the American Conservative Union. 

Though he has kept a home in Virginia, he has registered to vote in Fort Bend County and holds a Texas driver's license.

DeLay is still involved with a favorite charitable cause, a community for foster children in Fort Bend, said his spokeswoman, Shannon Flaherty.

Still, he faces criminal charges in Austin brought by Democratic District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has prosecuted other high-ranking politicians — some of whom, including then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, were found not guilty.