Tom DeLay Dons Rhinestones for DWTS Debut

Tom DeLay will make you laugh when he hits the dance floor tonight, and not just because he'll be wearing rhinestones for his Dancing With the Stars debut, predicts Emily Miller, who was DeLay's communications director when he was majority leader of the House. Miller, who was privy to a rehearsal, says her former boss really can dance, and the humor's intentional. She's not giving away any secrets, except to say that the cha-cha is involved, as is air guitar.

DeLay's partner, instructor, and choreographer, Cheryl Burke, tells Miller the only trouble she's had with her protégé is that at first he insisted on leading. "She said she finally had to say, 'I lead. It takes years to get to lead. Stop holding my hand so tight when you turn me so I can turn myself the other way.'" A sore foot is bothering him, but it may not be as bad as the case of nerves he's expecting tonight, since he's last on the lineup. Win or lose, Miller notes, "even as he was sweating in this seedy strip mall, he never looked happier." (More Tom DeLay stories.)