Wilde had a brief message for DeLay. “The church is strong,” he said. When he left, I asked DeLay if he thought the church—evangelicals, who make up the core of his support—was strong enough to save the Republican Party. In this case, he agreed with Gingrich. “We’re having a time of it right now,” he said. “We don’t have a good shot at winning 2008. I’m not saying we don’t have a shot, but it’s not good. It’s going to take six years to rebuild.”

DeLay says that when, in the coming years, he is not fighting the indictment in Texas (he insists that he is not guilty) he will be building a conservative grass-roots equivalent of MoveOn.org. “God has spoken to me,” he said. “I listen to God, and what I’ve heard is that I’m supposed to devote myself to rebuilding the conservative base of the Republican Party, and I think we shouldn’t be underestimated.” He said that Republicans should spend their impending exile reminding themselves what they stand for. “I see this as a cleansing process, where you can return to your principles, which are order, justice, and freedom—the basic principles of the conservative movement. We have to redefine government based on conservative principles, we have to win the war against our culture, and we have to win the war on terror.”
New Yorker

In certain circles, like various groups of mental health professionals, talking to God, or worse yet, getting personalized answers, is called schizophrenia. Apparently, in parts of Texas, it's just called good-ole boy politics and the more bat- looney you are over bible thumping psychosis, the better pew you get on Sunday.