That, at least is the message from Delay's former spokesman, Jonathan Grella:

"I think it's going to be a slow but successful path toward the top again, but in a different venue. 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."

To be sure, Delay has a lot of pans in the conservative fire, if not in Congress. He has returned as a frequent guest commentator and analyst on Fox and MSNBC. (No friend of John McCain and his campaign finance reforms, Delay said only "we'll see" when asked if he would vote for the Arizona Senator come November.)

Last year, Delay authored his own bilious right-wing screed, No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight. With former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell, he launched the Coalition for a Conservative Majority as a counterweight to the progressive MoveOn.org. Unsurprisingly, the organization is housed in the same Capitol Hill building as his consulting business, Delay's First Principles.

Delay's one-time conservative allies are optimistic about his chances for a return to right-wing glory (provided, of course, he doesn't go to jail first.) Former Christian Coalition poster child and Jack Abramoff crony Ralph Reed said simply, "Tom gets it like few others do." And Americans for Tax Reform president and conservative ubermensche Grover Norquist said Delay "has the name ID and the trust to help make this work."

By "this," Norquist could very well be speaking of Tom Delay's resurrection from the political dead. But for a man who once compared himself to Jesus ("People hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ") and said on the day of his booking in 2006, "let people see Christ through me," Tom Delay apparently has no doubt that he, too, will be risen.

For more Easter reflections on Tom Delay, visit here and here.