Excerpts from DeLay Hardball interview by Chris Matthews

Matthews: "Here you are fighting a tough election. Do you think it's going to be a tough one?"
DeLay: "It's going to be a very tough one. It's going to be a national election. We have all the MoveOn.org's down here. They've been down here for over a year. All the leftists groups have been down here...doing the telephones. This is a national campaign."

Matthews: "Is the vote for this House seat, your seat, as a member of leadership and a very powerful Republican, is this about a national decision or is this about a local decision?"
DeLay: "No this is a national decision. The Democrats have been planning this for a long time. They announced it-they announced their politics of personal destruction two years ago and the character assassination is part of their strategy. They don't have an agenda and so they're trying to get the House back by destroying people and their families."

Matthews: "Why do these rank and file Democrats make you a target? Why do they hate you?"
DeLay: "Well I hope that they hate me because I'm effective, because I get things done. We've had an eleven year run of a Republican majority doing things that I'm incredibly proud of...cutting taxes, strong national defense, welfare reform, balancing the budget, paying down on the debt. I mean, one thing after another, we've been effective on it and the democrats don't like it."

DeLay, on the trial: "I have demanded my rights to a speedy trial; unfortunately Ronnie Earle is filing frivolous appeals to drag it out as long as he wants. He's been dragging my name through the mud for three years now and he's going to try to drag it out, try to influence the election, that's the way he operates."

Excerpts from National Journal.