A politician's wife. A racial e-mail. And a skittish GOP

That's politics.

The wife of a Republican NJ assemblyman shoots off a racial e-mail. He informs the Burlco GOP of the faux pas. The party says it won't back him. He steps down.

Since when does a spouse's rash statement have such consequences?

Did I mention that Pat Delany's wife sent the intolerant missive to Democratic candidate Carl Lewis, an Olympic champ who's been in the news a lot?

Bill Layton, Burlco's GOP leader, said in a press release:  "While it may have been politically expedient to publicly throw Pat under the bus, I believe letting him walk away quietly was the honorable, compassionate thing to do for someone who personally had done nothing wrong."

In other words, Layton decided to keep the e-mail quiet.  And, to keep the Dems from using it in a campaign, he went a step further.  He told Delany that "if he chose to stay on the ballot, the Burlington County Republican Party would have withdrawn our support."