WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It is a sign of the Himalayan presumption to which the anti-DeLay hordes have soared that one of their websites is soliciting from their rank and vile "witty slogans" to be reproduced on billboards in House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's district and thus sink him into oblivion when next the electorate speak. Now how would any of these angry hysterics recognize wit?

 I do long to see the fruits of their labors. Already we have some specimens of their facetiae. There is the T-shirt that reads, "Dear Tom DeLay, Drop Dead/ Sincerely, The American People." Ha, ha, ha -- and did you get that, "Sincerely, The American People"? What did I say about the anti-DeLay hysterics' mountainous presumption? They actually think that their juvenile indignation is characteristic of the majority of the American people. But then they think the majority of the American people oppose the present Republican administration and were somehow hoodwinked out of the last two elections.

 Just the other day the Democrats' most recent messiah, Sen. Jean-Francois Kerry, solemnized, "Last year, too many people were denied their right to vote, too many who tried to vote were intimidated." Here is Sen. Kerry's evidence: "Leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you've ever had a parking ticket, you're not allowed to vote."

 Well, Michael Barone, one of the most perceptive students of politics, has also been reviewing the last election. He comes to a conclusion based on more solid evidence than that of the glassy-eyed Sen. Kerry, namely, election results -- state by state and congressional district by congressional district. Barone concludes, "In the long run, Republicans are well-positioned to increase their numbers in both the Senate and the House." The number of Democrats in the Senate and the House who are dependent on constituencies that have voted Republican in presidential races is far higher than the number of Republicans holding seats in states that go Democratic every four years. When these Democrats retire or step away from moderate positions, a Republican is likely to take their place.

 This ongoing slippage, which has been going on since 1980, despite the Wunderkind Clinton, explains the Democrats' desperate assault on House Majority Leader DeLay, the most successful Republican to hold that position in modern times. Ben Stein wrote recently in DeLay's defense that he "is morally probably the highest level public servant I have ever met." Ben, I shall take your word for that. Certainly nothing I have seen in the corpus delicti gathered up by the Democrats' servants in the media demonstrates otherwise. All of it is either blameless or standard operating procedure for all Washington pols, Democrat, Republican and Independent.

 Did DeLay have his wife and daughter on his payroll for campaign-related work? That was the news story that was supposed to send him to the gallows last week. This week it has been reported that Independent congressman Bernard Sanders has been doing the same. If the press looks carefully, it will discover an abundance of solons employing family members. What the Democrats are doing is creating yet another double standard: What is impermissible for Republicans is not even mentioned when practiced by Democrats.

 My guess is that DeLay is going to survive easily. He has done no wrong, though he might in the future be more scrupulous in availing himself to the hospitality of Washington wheeler-dealers. How his enemies are going to survive is more problematic. They have driven themselves to the edge. As with the president so now with DeLay, they are nearly out of their minds. The only good that can come of this condition for them is this. In their hysteria they will not be able to notice what fools they make of themselves. They will be stuck with DeLay up there on the Hill passing legislation, but they will still have their self-esteem. Of course, they even maintained their self-esteem when they voted for the buffoonish Sen. Kerry.