Dancing with the Hammer: Tom Delay’s ‘Dancing’ Journey

“I stand resolute in my values not because I am an inherently stubborn, combative man. I stand firm because I believe conservative values are the key to American greatness…I am a Christian, a conservative and a man deeply in love with his country. This is who I am, Here is where I stand. No retreat. No surrender.”

Former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay wrote the text above at the conclusion of his book, “No Retreat, No Surrender: One American’s Fight,” a book that detailed how Delay stood firm for his conservative beliefs during his long political career. However, in addition to his political career, the title of Delay’s book could also easily describe his recent quest for victory on the hit ABC show “Dancing with the Stars.” During his tenure on that program, while facing an uphill battle, Delay stood firm and fought intensely to win the difficult dance competition, a fight that ended when Delay left the program last week.

Sixteen celebrity contestants started the competition this season of the program with dance partners. In the first week of the show, two celebrity contestants were eliminated (one male and one female). In the second week, a third contestant was removed from the competition. In the third week, Tom Delay chose to remove himself from the competition because of health reasons. As CNN.com reported, Delay left the “competition on recommendations from his doctor and the show’s producers.” According to that article, Delay “said he was just too injured to continue, developing stress fractures in both his feet that made it very difficult to endure the rigors of the competition.”

In spite of his injuries, Delay was able to dance on last Monday’s episode of the program. Although his dance score was one of the lowest that evening, his willingness to dance in spite of his injury and in spite of the pain he felt was impressive. He danced without retreating because of his pain and without surrendering to his injuries and although he made some mistakes during the dance, he showed off his passion for dancing and his dedication to the show. (To see some of the highlights from Tom Delay’s tenure on the show, click here.)

For what it is worth, the former Congressman did pretty well in the dancing competition. He survived longer than singer Macy Gray, supermodel Kathy Ireland and singer Ashley Hamilton. In addition to Delay leaving the show because of his injuries, “Entourage” actress Debi Mazar was also eliminated from the show in the third week. Their departures leave eleven stars remaining on the show including former “Clarissa Explains It All” actress Melissa Joan Hart, pop singer Aaron Carter and singer Donny Osmond on the show.

Even though Delay left the show in only its third week, he was able to show off his dance moves on the program and he looked like he was having a great experience on the show. While some may mock Delay for going on the show, he was extremely entertaining on the program and fans voted to keep him on it week after week.

Regardless of how you feel about the former Majority Leader, Tom Delay was an excellent addition to the show and his fight to win it was appealing. Even with stress fractures in both of his feet, Delay still  managed to dance one last time as a contestant of the show during his third and final week in the competition. Although some may argue that Delay still ultimately quit the show and thus surrendered, Delay’s injuries were not minor ones and the recommendations for him to leave the program from his doctor and the show producers showed the seriousness of his injuries.

In spite of the pain he experienced on the program, Delay’s performances on the program showed that he had not changed much since leaving public office.

He still believes in no retreat and no surrender, in the political arena and on the dance floor.

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Tags: "No Retreat, Congress, Dance contest, dancing with the stars, No Surrender: One American’s Fight", Republican, Tom Delay
Posted Oct 11th 2009 at 3:13 pm in Celebrity News, Politics, Television | 24270635 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhanlon/2009/10/11/dancing-with-the-hammer-tom-delays-dancing-journey/Dancing+with+the+Hammer%3A+Tom+Delay%27s+%27Dancing%27+Journey2009-10-11+22%3A13%3A08John+P.+Hanlon