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Delaware’s Problem Isn’t Christine O’Donnell.

If I lived in Delaware I would be looking for Tom Ross' replacement.

By: Aaron Gardner (Diary)  |  October 15th, 2010 at 04:34 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I know that it’s become popular to get all down in the dumps about the Delaware Senate race. I know that it’s all a “done deal” and no amount of campaigning or prodding can change the outcome. The die has been cast.

Alea iacta est.

These words were made famous when Julius Caesar spoke them as he led his army across the Rubicon. Caesar was now in direct defiance and civil war and past the point of no return.

O’Donnell won her primary despite the best efforts of the Delaware GOP and Castle. This race was a contentious one and it has been, more than any other, like a civil war between the moderate and conservative factions of the party.

Since her win she has largely been on her own, still fighting the smears on the left and the potshots from the right. She has had to do all the post primary work, like reuniting the party, without the assistance of the State party. Despite this she has launched what I think is a good ad campaign combined with mailings. She also beat Coons in back to back debates in a matter of 24 hours.

At this point, two weeks out from election day and 2 debates left, a new Rasmussen poll shows Coons at 51% and O’Donnell at 40%.

Now ask yourself this.

If the Delaware GOP had held just one event for O’Donnell since the primary, could this race be closer?

If the Delaware GOP had posted a full throated endorsement of O’Donnell, might that have caused this race to tighten?

If the Delaware GOP had used it’s social media platforms, like Facebook and twitter, to support O’Donnell, would that have helped move this race to a toss up?

Unfortunately, we will never know what could, might, or would have happened because the Delaware GOP did nothing to support O’Donnell and Mike Castle refused to endorse. I haven’t scene a new FEC filing for either O’Donnell or the Delaware GOP, but I suspect there would be little proof of support in it even if I had. In all, the Delaware GOP has been an epic fail. First in propping up Castle, now in not supporting O’Donnell.

As Red State’s Patron Saint of Lost Causes, it would cause me great pleasure to see the Delaware GOP, and more specifically Tom Ross, get double burned by O’Donnell managing a win on her own. Alas, I won’t claim that Christine O’Donnell is poised to march on Rome, though it’s not totally outside the realm of possibility for her to win. I am just here to say the die has been cast.

Alea iacta est.

The people of Delaware, moderates and conservatives alike, have been shown who is willing to fight for them to be represented in the US Senate. Clearly it isn’t the Delaware GOP as it currently exists, and for that, Tom Ross should be ashamed.

Tom Ross said, after the primary was over, that “The Delaware Republican Party plans on doing what it does every election year – working hard for our candidates”. If this is what can be expected every election year, then we are in dire straights in Delaware.

So despite her trailing in the polls, I tip my hat to Christine O’Donnell for crossing the Rubicon. Maybe this can spark a reform of the Delaware GOP that appears to be badly needed.

Aaron B. Gardner

P.S. Go Christine!

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COMMENTS

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  • daveoconnor

    if he would travel the short distance necessary and endorse O’Donnell while standing next ti her. This alone would tighten the race

  • tngal

    I’m delighted she gained some traction after the debate. Unfortunately, although he’s down a bit, coons is still over the 50 mark. I still think she can turn this around.

    But, could someone tell me why the President AND vice president , who could be out campaigning for any candidate is stumping for Coons in Deleware today? I could see if Christine and Coons were neck and neck or if he were down slightly, but they’ve brought out everybody for this race but Castro and Chevez. Maybe the strategists think she can turn it around too.

  • Randy

    If she wins she is only beholden to two repub’s…. Sarah and DeMint….. hmmm sounds like a fairly good 2012 ticket too…

    I hope she wins, don’t think she will, but stranger things have happened in this election cycle. Either way it’s going to be fun to watch the trolls and the lame stream…

  • tngal

    though maybe a multi-pronged attack would help more, much the way they lobbed at her today. What about Scott Brown, Bachmann and Rubio joining Christie on the same day? She needs the backing of several someones since she’s not getting much from the establishment. But they better drop in in the next day or two. And for crying out loud someone put some man-up ads against coons on the air for her. She’s too nice to do it.

  • Jack_Savage

    I also think we should regard Delaware as completely lost and be absolutely sure to take our ball and go home should a conservative not win the primary in the future. Forever. At any level, in any federal election, including President.

    The moderates, especially the jackasses in Delaware, have been far busier creating self-fulfilling prophecies than trying to win elections. The problem for them is that, as Arlen Specter proved, there isn’t even a place for them in the Democrat Party any more. Given that, along with their little temper tantrums, it seems they are fresh out of friends. Mike Castle, along with Murkowski, Scozzofavabeans, et al, have proved that they never were worthy of our support.

    Democrats and moderate Republicans – good for nothing but trashing play areas at fast-food restaurants.

  • Oz

    There is a place for moderates still.

    After all we’ve got Christie and Scott Brown as two from the northeast.

    We do need more DeMint conservatives though and fewer McConnell “Conservatives” and fewer moderates.

    I’d like 60 Republicans who will vote as conservative and a conservative President.

  • Finrod

    The reason many blue states are blue states is because the state GOP party is completely incompetent and needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom. If O’Donnell provides the momentum for that to happen in Delaware, her candidacy will have been worth it even if she loses this race by a country mile.

  • aesthete

    they don’t end up looking the fool in other states they are not likely to win in, and because it keeps O’Donnell front and center.

  • america1st

    are due not only to the dims, but also the “me first” Establishment wing of the GOP who are the true “whores” in the political market – castle, jeffords, specter, murkowsky, etc. The situation in Delaware is emblematic of this.

  • http://thesandsinstitute.org Vassar Bushmills

    …let me say what a really good piece of reportage this is.

    I’ll be into retribution and reckonings on Nov 3, but think this is still winnable, and think, considering what the RINO’s have in invested in her losing, not to mention the Dem’s..who suddenly have found this close to nucular annihilation, if they lose too (collusion?) should whet the appetites of many Delawarans. Let’s see if we can’t egg on the fight. I’m interested.

  • tngal

    They’ve only got a couple of states to choose from if that’s their criteria.

  • romeg

    1) Deleware is one of the very few states where their odds of winning are better than even. The narrative is that unless Repbulicans SWEEP Senate races then they will have failed. If Coons wins, you can be certain that Big O will spare no effort at claiming credit for that victory.

    2) This is (nominally) Biden’s seat and for that reason it is a MUST WIN for them.

    These two factors would make an O’Donnell victory especially sweet. And it is a mystery to me why anyone in DE who refers to themselves as Republican or Conservative would not support O’Donnell. The behavior of the Republican establishment toward O’Donnell is a shameful disgrace.

    So, while a Republican victory would be a nice win,
    a Democrat Loss would be… well… DOOM

  • romeg

    Neill Stevens and his elfin cohort are the statisticians around here but if Coons is at only 51% THIS CLOSE to election day, that means that there are a lot of “undecideds out there. I know that conventional wisdom says that the undecideds tend to break in the direction of the the majority but it just seems weird to me that about 11% of the voters are pondering their choice this close to the election.

  • tngal

    like us winning hawaii one or O’s illinois seat. But honestly, isn’t it overkill just for a trophy? Their castle (no pun) is crashing around them and they want to save a chain on a drawbridge.

    And if they’re looking for sure senate wins to crow about they could swoop in on Gillibrand, she’s up by 18. Heck, Leahy is up by 35 in Vermont. Even they could stump in there with no chance of screwing that one up. “Woohoo came in and guided Leahy to a win.” I still think they are afraid of Christine.

  • joecollins

    11 points separate the Dem from Ms. O’Donnell. This is good news. Think I’ll send her a donation.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Delaware is a small state, and that is to O’Donnell’s benefit as small numbers can add up to larger percentages rather quickly and unnoticed.

    It’s been done in much larger states.

  • Tbone

    and it needn’t be. If all the RINO Senators who would really like to show up in January as Committee Chairs would get their squishy butts to DE and open up their check books, O’Donnell just might pull a Scott Brown. Uh, speaking of Scott, he needs to be in DE.

  • philipjames

    I have asked this elsewhere, but I do not understand female voters. They seem to stick their heads up their butts when there is a viable female candidate. Delaware is a perfect example.
    Apparently the polls show O’Donnell with only 23% or so support by women. WTF is that all about? Its the same with Sarah Palin. Its the same with most female candidates.
    If it keeps going on, the only logical conclusion is that even though women talk the talk about being equal, deep down inside the still think the man is superior and more suited for the job. There is no other explanation, no matter what women yell and scream about it. Because it crosses party lines. It is neither conservative or liberal. It is reverse sexism by women. So, how can you really take women seriously when they insist on equality in everything…. except of course, politics?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Picard

  • aesthete

    Very true. I guess Obama could have campaigned in NY…

  • aesthete

    It does seem that Tea Party enthusiasm is better leveraged, and less accounted for in the polls, in smaller states than larger ones. DE is a pretty small state, so who knows? Maybe their Tea Parties can pull it off.

  • IJB
  • Aaron Gardner

    Which actually proves my point.

    Thanks. ;)

  • SteveLA

    Aaron

    I’l just have to file your request for unified support of the Republican nominee in Delaware away for future reference when a moderate wins a primary and the “True Conservative”/SIVV wing of the Republican party starts point out their own their lack of enthusiasm for the party’s nominee and how they will be sitting at home on their hands?

    Can we have another round of McCain bashing by “True Conservatives” while we’re at it, who by the way is the winner of a R Primary and is running for office as the Republican party standard bearer, not that you engage in any of that sort of behavior to give you full credit.

    Seems to be that an uneven standard of support, depending on who’s OX got gored.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    All the rest I filter as the usual boilerplate blather.

  • http://practicalgopvoter.blogspot.com/ texasproud

    on the state electorate in federal races. Strong state parties like Arkansas Democratic Party or Florida Republican Party can help the party overachieve in local or state races but to make a difference on federal races, unless you have a candidate that can transcend the status quo political divide, you won’t win as the minority party. Barack Obama cannot win in Arkansas or West Virginia even while the state party can still win most of the local races. Conversely Sarah Palin cannot win in Hawaii or New York while there are Republicans like Linda Lingle or George Pataki that have been able to. Jim Demint would not win a Senate seat in Massachusetts, but Scott Brown could. John Kerry can’t win a Senate seat in Nebraska but Ben Nelson can. Delaware is a blue state, they vote like a blue state, and they even have a strong local party to make the odds even more complicated. There are not enough Republican leaning voters in Delaware to win an election unless the candidate has the ability to win. Christine O’Donnell is not a candidate that can run in blue state and transcend that boundary. Having the state party and the ‘establishment’ throw behind her is not the problem. It’s the campaign she is running and the media team who are running ads that people remember for the wrong reason. She needs to be hammering Coons about the stimulus and Obamacare and not making ads that even mention ‘witch-gate’. Her candidacy’s only chance is for a Coakley-esque implosion, and in hindsight, if she was going to be the nominee, she needed the primary to be in the Spring so there would be more time for Coons to do that. Of course, if Beau Biden knew she was going to be the nominee and not Mike Castle, he would be running and be well ahead of where Coons is at. O’Donnell is at least making for a good enough distraction that the Dems are spending time and resources on it instead of races where they could make an impact like Washington, California, Connecticut, or West Virginia.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • SteveLA

    Moderates don’t have common ground with Ms. O’Donnell, they disagree with her on issues. Of course they are not going to rally around her, any more than social conservatives are going to rally around as you put it a “Pro Abort”.

    As the nominee for the Republican party, Ms. O’Donnell is due at the very least, the silence of airing of differences on issues and qualifications for office and personal hubris from this side of the ditch while there is an election going on, a standard that you enforce.

    Is that level of enforcement held to the same standards of vigor when it comes to Senator McCain?

  • Aaron Gardner
  • http://thesandsinstitute.org Vassar Bushmills

    …all we have to do is figure how to strip awya the smug factor, and replace it with D-for-Destruction factor

  • aesthete

    That “women” are not a monolithic group with the same interests, feelings, etc., but rather, that they are a disparate group of people with different interests, feelings, etc. who can and will vote for people based on factors not related to genitalia? Besides, wouldn’t that view require that all of the men in DE support Coons?

    Also: see Neil’s post.

  • IJB

    If New Castle (Coons’, Carney’s, and Castle’s geo. base, and also the most leftist area of DE) come out, it’s probably a bridge too far to win this.

    But if New Castle, believing the polling and thinking these races are ‘in the bag’, mostly stays home, then both O’Donnell and Urquhart could win in upsets.

    This is really all going to come down to what happens in New Castle county…

  • LisaDe

    I know as a matter of “crazy” fact that there has been an effort by many in Delaware to tell any pollsters that they are voting against O’Donnell in an effort to keep the numbers at a wider range so that Biden and/or Obama showed no need for campaigning. They either got wind of it or they know the numbers are much closer than they are showing.

  • rdelbov

    the Premise of this post. When I was linked to the GOP website I read Tom Ross’s welcoming statement. That’s typical boilerplate that I have seen on every state GOP website. What’s wrong with that. When you click on home you see Christine’s smiling face and a link to her website. Let me make three other points.

    1. Its not the place for the Delaware GOP party to stage events for its US senate–US congressman-state treasurer or its legislative candidates. They are to stage events and the party supports them. I am on the emal list for the county party-state party and several candidates here in TN. The state and local party does setup events for candidates. That’s what candidates do.

    2. Christine ODonnell seems to be a whinner and a complainer–Oh I know she was not born into wealth and did not inherit any money. She has been complaining about the NRSC-the RNC not supporting but guess what? She has raised 3.9 million by 09-30-2010 and apparently is close to 5 million dollars raised. She has set the all time fundraising record for a US senate seat in Delaware and she is complaining about money from the NRSC? She got her direct 42K form NRSC just like Britton in VT and Huffman in OR. Guess how many ads these two guys have got from the NRSC? Zero just like Christine. Except they don’t have 2.6 million in the bank.

    3. Finally I spoke out several times this year about the scorch and burn tactics of various GOP primary foes. I deplore republicans running slash and burn campaigns as they make party unity hard to acheive. On Mark Levin’s show-before the Primary-this is what Christine said “cheap, underhanded, unmanly tactics–this is not a bakeoff Mike needs to put his Man pants on”. This was after her ex campaign manager launched his efforts to call Castle Gay. Frankly I am surprised Castle is not actively campaigning for Coons. These are personal nasty attacks. The GOP website, however, has about as much campaign stuff as some I have seen. So on the surface they support Chrstine but I think lots of folks are still upset. Chrisine’s tactics-IMO-were cheap shots in the primary in many ways. I think the ODonnell plan, however, is to moan and groan about how there is no party unity in Delaware. I say Girl Christine this is no bakeoff.

    Here’s one prediction. I want Christine to win but no matter what is one prediction. She will not spend all of her 5 million in funds raised. She will have 1 to 1.5 million left after 11-02-2010. Win or loss that will her slush fund either for 2014 re-election or for her 2012 senate campaign.

  • aesthete

    I know (or think I know) that the national party is mostly hands-off on this race, but are there any PACs running ads about The Bearded Marxist’s support of ObamaCare or other negative ads? I recall that DE is, despite being big-government, pretty business friendly. What happens when you show Obama’s record to the Delewareans, hmm? Whatever you think of O’Donnell, Coons is pretty much your standard Dem: if voters in DE care even the slightest about that, we should be able to depress turnout in New Castle at least some.

  • Tbone

    35 years, I got to tell you a significant some of them have an ingrained jealousy of other women that manifests itself in many ways. It very well may be that the percentage that have this may be enough to account for some of this skewing.

  • Locked and Loaded

    Either way, let it be a warning.

  • Locked and Loaded

    Is it the Dems or the R’s that don’t want the clown show in town?

  • Aaron Gardner

    1. Boilerplate doesn’t equal “full throated endorsement”.

    2. The State GOP’s calendar shouldn’t be a list of just event’s they stage, it should be a list of all events for all candidates. Any thing less is a failure by the State GOP. Also, my State GOP has sponsored events for the candidates at both the State and Federal level.

    3. You are the only one who has mentioned the NRSC here, so I will allow you to continue that argument by yourself.

    4. Your a big man. Thanks for the lecture, let me know when you get promoted to the front page.

    Here’s one prediction for you. If you can see fit to support the GOP candidate, and that includes not actively talking her down like some moby, you need to start looking for another site.

  • LisaDe

    No, it’s actually a college crowd thing. They figure that the Dems may not show up to vote if they think its a lock.

  • aesthete

    Christine O’Donnell is an extremely weak candidate, and the primary battle was a bloody one. I also disagree with the premise of the OP, for the reasons that you outline. That said, DE’s Republican Party isn’t particularly praiseworthy, itself: from what I’ve been able to gather, Castle was the darling of the DE establishment, and he got beat by an anti-masturbation witch. Was he really the best that the DE Party could find in all of DE? While we’re on the subject, sure, O’Donnell was a poor candidate. However, the Tea Party only had a year to find a candidate, and they did the best with what they could. What has the DE Republican Party done in the years that they have been in power? Judging from the fact that the only pol of note they produced was liberal, uncharismatic, and apparently a failure at running his own campaign, I’d say not much. Given that, I think that Aaron’s point about party reform is sound: you can’t grouse about the Tea Party if they managed to win with a crappy candidate that they found as an afterthought, when as a state Party, you haven’t exactly filled the stables with quality stallions. O’Donnell isn’t my favorite Tea Party candidate, but at least she managed to win. If Castle lost to “the nut”, I can’t imagine he would have been a dynamo against the Dem.

  • aesthete

    Most people don’t put much thought into their vote beyond visceral feelings, so I’m sure that there’s some latent jealousy. The worst collective case of it I saw was at a U of A wymyn’s studies class I was taking as an elective when Palin was selected by McCain as her running mate. From all the hysteria on the part of the instructor and students, one would have thought a women was getting stoned. (Well, maybe not, considering the indifference with which the subject is treated by feminists.) It seems probable that there are some women who vote based on that general “feeling”, especially single women.

  • Locked and Loaded
  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • jpalm

    We will remember their lack of loyalty!
    Go Tea Party!

  • aesthete

    that people sniffing about how Castle lost really don’t seem to get that this fantastic moderate was just beat

    For the record, I don’t want politicians, bureaucrats, or political staffers anywhere near pornography, masturbation and civic morality. I certainly don’t want them close enough that they could be “pro” or against anything related to those concepts.

  • aesthete

    by a candidate that was extremely sub-par, and that as a result, people might want to reconsider the idea that he was some tremendous candidate. The DE Republican Party in particular should be concerned about the fact that someone as bad as Castle was their sole warhorse, and really does need reforming.

  • Tbone

    by the Republican Establishment, I think she would be real close to Coons right now.

    Let’s not forget that Rove immediately poured water on the fire and the filthy, lowlife, piece of pond scum Castle should have immediately endorsed her instead of pouting about the end of his worthless political career.

  • bostinks2

    would not be represented like most people wish with a democratic socialist party type comrade coons win.

    O Donnell seems to be doing well on her own, without the endorsement of the establishment GOP eletist. An accomplishment she should be extremely proud of.

  • rdelbov

    1. Click on those events and its a listing of events that other candidates or organizations are putting. Except for the literature drop-which I am assume-will support all candidates there are no GOP statewide events. These are all candidate events. Perhaps Christine needs to forward her events to the GOP party of Delaware. I might add that I checked Christine’s site for list of events. Not a second event is listed that I could find. Nada. In fact her website does not list a single news article about a recent event in Delaware except her debate. No visits to senior centers or sign waving or visits to diners.

    2. Talk about endorsing her. Click on the home of the Delaware party website and there is Christine. There are several pictures of Chrstine and a link to her website. What other type of endorsement does an official GOP nominee need? The Party does not endorse people after primaries-after you win the primary you are our candidate.

    3. You did not mention NRSC in your post but Christine has made it the focus of her post debate discussion on several national shows. Just as you are complaining about her non support

    4. I am not sure if your Big Man reference is an insult to me or some sort of reference to my comment about Castle needing to be his “Man’s pants now”. I was respectful in disagreeing with you and did not belittle you or your opinions in any way. I just disagreed with you. I for one can engage in civil discussion with those who agree or disagree with me. So if you meant to insult or belittle me I will turn the other cheek so to speak. I enjoy your posts here and 90% of the time I agree with them. I think in this case you are looking for fault where there is none. I know there was hard feelings between Christine and the GOP before the primary–I don’t care to go into that. Right now, however, on the home page of the Delaware state GOP the #1 candidate listed is Christine O.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Trust me, this post isn’t a one stop shop for evidence on the various ways that the DE GOP has failed this election year. You want to claim my premise is wrong, then you are claiming the DE GOP is successful. I think that is beyond dumb. But you have every right to make dumb comments.

    Honestly, I don’t count you as an ally to this site or it’s stated goals. Take that for what it’s worth.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Could have been worded differently the first time, but fair point.

    I disagree with it because the primary electorate is not the same as the general election electorate, but it’s a point.

  • fastrock

    aesthete I agree w/ most of your comment. I’m no numbers cruncher like Neil Stevens but with 2.5 weeks out, O and Joe rolling in, I sense an undertone of dem fear. Christine has lost races, as I have, but you learn and visualize what is necessary to win. I’m confident Christine has visualized a path to success and her ads over the next weeks will rain He!! upon the Marxist.

    Unlike some, Erik included, that see Christine as the sacrificial lamb for the TP Senate nominees. I’m not willing to see Christine take a fastball in the ribs for the team. Christine got 2 C notes after Wed debate, she gets another tonite as well as prayers.

    Aaron – I appreciate your insight also.

  • aesthete

    (And here’s the reason people who didn’t like O’Donnell should be heartened that she won)… Castle had no enthusiasm on his side. He went in with everything favoring him, but lost in his own primary among his own voters. Alvin Greene in SC had more charisma and enthusiasm. If he have won it would have been a vote for the status quo. In a bloody primary with voters who weren’t that excited about Castle to begin with, that might have been enough to nix his candidacy, had the Dems run a good candidate (which they almost assuredly would have the next time around). It’s clear that the party infrastructure and recruitment was poor. At the very least, the Tea Parties backing O’Donnell have enthusiasm and commitment to cutting government on their side: assets which may be useful in reforming the state apparatus into something that offers, to quote a former Republican Presidential candidate, “a choice, not an echo”. So even if O’Donnell loses (which is probable, but not assured), her winning at least gives Tea Partiers an opportunity to breathe life into a moribund state Party, and a chance at higher quality candidates making it. I think that Aaron’s OP’s closing sentence is one that has some merit.

  • earlgrey

    else to run too. It is like they didn’t give it any thought. It is a small state, but a cap and trade republican in the midst of the teap party revolt is not going to inspire anyone, and that is what they gave to the republicans in Delaware.

    Christine at least had the guts to challenge that. The reward for all of us was an actual argument about the role and scope of government instead of some nitpicking on policy issues. Christine O’Donnell probably won’t win, but at least we have someone who is willing to stand her ground.

    When has the republican party done that in the past few years (other than the war on terror)?

  • Aaron Gardner

    Check out O’Donnell’s latest hit on Coons…

  • AceInTX

  • AceInTX

    NONE!!!!

  • AceInTX

    I’ve had a target on my back ever since because that worthless piece of crap was so hard to swallow….I made my bed to be sure….but don’t act like there is a double standard where conservatives can wander off the reservation with impunity because I can testify the very idea is a lie.

    and I have yet to see a conservative behave the way so called moderates have in this election. I read a piece the other day about some of the bigs in the Nevada Republican Party jumping nasty on Angle and endorsing the Democrats….

    Again…there is NO ROOM FOR YOU AND YOUR CLOWNISH FRIENDS TO CRY HYPOCRITE WHEN IT COMES TO PARTY SWITCHING AND ACTING IN BAD FAITH!

  • E Pluribus Unum

    That would be a good start on suppressing the turnout, at least of dead people.

  • AceInTX

    I don’t like your trashing of Odonnell….but you make an excellent point that for Castle’s vaunted greatness…and the supposed superior nature of the DE GOP…they were beaten by an upstart nobody and a gaggle of unaffiliated and seemingly disorganized collection of rabble who did so as an after thought….

    In particular:

    you can

  • E Pluribus Unum

    and still not be even with what the moderates do to us. How many losing conservatives do you know who ever failed to endorse the moderate? How many ever started a 3rd-party campaign after losing the primary? How many started a write-in campaign?

    Start naming.

    As for conservatives lining up, sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Do the names Fiorina and Kirk mean anything to you?

  • SteveLA

    That’s Senator John Sydney McCain, Republican Arizona, and he won, stomped on as a matter of fact, JD Hayworth, in a Republican primary in his state and is representing the Republican party in the general election….deal with it. Or is the standard for not speaking ill of our party’s nominees limited to just those you agree with?

  • SteveLA

    The next Senator from my state who is going to win.

  • AceInTX

    I know maintaining a consistent train of thought is difficult for you…but please do try

    We were talking about how you are taking notes and going to hold our standard of party loyalty in this instance over our heads when some moderate is later nominated against our objections….

    so…I can take your change of subject one of two ways….

    1) You don’t have a good answer for my reply

    2) You can’t see your computer screen through all that smoke and you can’t wrap your weed damaged brain around a coherent thought at the moment.

  • SteveLA
  • AceInTX

    which is more than we’ve gotten from Specter, Crist, Murkowski, Castle and a few others I can’t think of at the moment

  • JonMoseley

    The problem is that the voters only know shallow, superficial soundbites of attacks in the media.

    If people actually get to hear Christine speak, they will be astoounded by what an awesome candidate she is, expert, and knowledgeable.

    However, if people never get to hear her, then they will only believe the attacks.

    One of the goals of the attacks is to keep people from being able to hear her, to crowd out her message, discredit her, and get her off track.

    So it is very important to get the word out and encourage everyone in Delaware to actually watch Christine O’Donnell’s campaign speeches and TV appearances.

    Christine O’Donnell’s campaign speeches and TV appearances are available for viewing at:

    http://www.MeetChristineODonnell.com

  • Aaron Gardner

    Not to mention threadjacking.

    I suggest you stop.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Ace wins, now let’s get back on topic.

  • AceInTX

    I hope that’s mock outrage on your part Steve…

    We’ve been around this bush a few times before…and you’ve given me far worse at time than I just gave you!

  • AceInTX
  • JonMoseley

    Profound point. Vastly overlooked. Let’s not forget it.

  • JSobieski

    If you want to crap on people after the election, I don’t think anyone would care.

    I don’t recall any “McCain bites so I am voting for Barack” diaries in October or November of 2008.

    We stay united from primary day to general election day. After that, let it fly.

    Seems like common sense rules to me. I distinctly remember a lot of people not too fond of McCain sticking up for him and chasting his critics here at RS in late 2008.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • rdelbov

    goal of this site is to elect Conservative republicans I am with you 100%. If the stated goal of this site is to change the course that our country is on I am with you 100%.

    If the purpose of this site is to stir the pot up against the Delaware GOP because they are hindering Christine ODonnell. I say show me the money.

    I don’t see it. In fact In the course of looking at Christine’s website-the GOP delaware website and googling Christine’s campaign in Delaware. I cannot find any mention of any campaign stops in delaware for Christine since the primary. Look at her website–where can you see Christine in Delaware this week. This is a small state where you could mention thousands of people this saturday. Where is Christine going to be??

    I suggest that you or anyone else interested follow behind me. The Delaware GOP is not putting any Christine events on their calendar because there are none. I just put out what I looked for.

    Not a single Christine press release on her site touting where she will be. Very strange.

  • JSobieski

    nt

  • powertothepeople

    gave me a good trolly laugh!! Thanks.

  • dio55

    If christine loses by a point or two. If we Republicans cannot close ranks this year no matter what happens on Nov 4th we are doomed in the future, and btw I am no fan of Christine

  • JSobieski

    getting into an argument with someone over the number of events that Fred had in contrast to McCain (the debate was with a McCain supporter). I remember arguing that metrics like the number of campaign events were irrelevant.

    I also remember a diary by Caleb/Absentee contrasting the professionalism exhibited at a McCain campaign stop in contrast to a Fred campaign event (both events were in South Carolina if I remember correctly).

    I don’t know what Christine’s campaign schedule is. Its quite possible that she is doing a lot of campaign events that just aren’t on her website. I hope that is the case.

    There is a lot to be said of good retail campaigners. Delaware is a small state, I hope that Christine is getting out there and shaking hands, kissing babies, and knocking on doors.

    Her latest ad against Coons was excellent.

  • Aaron Gardner

    I wanted to start off with that so you understand the ground you stand on with me.

    A. I don’t think you understand the purpose of a statewide GOP if you don’t consider active support of the statewide candidates part of it’s primary mission.

    B. You don’t ever really support anyone, you argue on the margins about trivial items that you deem important. Sorry, I don’t accept your terms of debate. This is my post. Again, talk to me when you get front page posting privileges.*

    C. The Delaware GOP was actively engaged in new media – including a blog on their website, a twitter account, and a Facebook account throughout the primary. The event calendar included events for Mike Caste. The new media accounts, the blogs, and the event calendar have gone essentially dark on statewide candidates.

    D. You aren’t the smartest guy in the room. Not by a fricken long shot.

    Have a great evening. I will, my scotch is poured and my cigar is lit.

  • gop2010

    For example, the Texas GOP may make less impact than the Delaware GOP because the Texas GOP is spread over so many more candidates. Delaware has three congresscritters. That’s not hard.

    (that’s what she said)

  • Jack_Savage

    I would like to see moderates stick with the party on a tough vote or two just once. Heck, I would be happy to see moderates just stick with the party. Even John McCain, patron saint of moderates, was seriously considering running as John Kerry’s VP.

    And as far as Christie goes, I’ll take a moderate like him any day – or even one like Fiorina. It seems their sense of honor would prevent them from stabbing their party in the back. That sense of honor is something the current crop of moderates sorely lack.

  • tngal

    “….O

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Yes, my point is what Ace said it was. Conservatives have done one hell of alot of tolerating, when it comes to candidates not to our liking. And that’s been a one-way street.

    You got nothing to be smug about, cowboy. If the DeVore supporters had bailed on Carly, you’d have a bunch of nothing.

  • gop2010

    …but it’s also that women are very conscious that there aren’t many of them in the high rungs of power and so they feel like they will be “represented” by whatever woman is in power. They therefore have unrealistically high standards for those women than for men, who are so numerous they are generally looked at as individuals and not representative of a subgroup. Both more women legislators and more legislators from different backgrounds should do much to cure this problem for moderates, not so much for liberals.

    The other reason all my lib friends were horrified at the selection of Palin was that they all believed that McCain thought them so stupid as to vote purely according to gender. My entreaties to them that no one, least of all McCain, ever expected to get the lib women’s vote were ignored: They believe they were insulted and they won’t be convinced otherwise.

    This is not “reverse sexism,” but it does have to do with gender issues and perceptions and the intrinsic biases of our society, and so is a little sexist. Old feminists called this the patriarchy but I find that label too pejorative. The Way Things Are At Present is vague but less biased. Things could be different, and maybe they will be in the future, but right now this is what we’ve got. Take note and appeal to your better angels now. Later, vote out your Tom Rosses.

  • aesthete

    Perhaps the most amusing part of the whole thing is the public breakdown of the political establishment: the gnashing of moderate teeth at seeing their “reasonable” candidate lose, the progressive astonishment that the influence of the hoi polloi crept north to DE, and the angry reaction from “non-partisans” who realized that this meant that any incumbent was a target. This has really gotten under their collective skins, and they aren’t handling it well. For all that’s been said of O’Donnell’s past, none of it is nearly as bad as what they’ve said now that the mask is starting to slip. Deep down, they really do loathe us, and they hate the idea that their cloistered kingdoms might be toppled by supposed rubes who haven’t made their peace with big government, as moderates have, or who don’t respond to the siren song of increased government.

  • audax
  • rfpzzzzz

    In 4 years of Democrat control of Congress and 2 years of the Obama White House we have gone from about 5% unemployment to 10% unemployment. We had had 3 years in a row of declining deficits and the last GOP budget that the Democrats inherited had a deficit of $163B , about 1/10th of the current Democrat one. We were approaching an all time high in the stock market and for 2 years now we have wallowed at 10 year lows although with the possibility of a Democrat loss of control of Congress the market has recently perked up a bit. Prior to the takeover of control of Congress by the Democrats there was not yet a financial or housing crisis and although oversight of these sectors of the economy was under their control, the collapse happened anyway. By the way, Democrats also have controlled spending/debt and taxation since the end of the GOP budget which expired in Sept ’07.

    Often wars will be brought up, but the Authorization for use of Force in Iraq was brought to a Democrat controlled Senate by the Democrat Majority Leader Daschle and a majority of Democrat Senators voted to give Bush the authority to go to Iraq.

    If anyone wonders why O’Donnell can out raise her opponent just think about these facts instead of all the stupid Bill Maher jokes. By the way what kind of a man is Maher that he digs up quotes on a girl he had invited on his show to boost his ratings and seemed to like but now essentially tries to black mail her while taking things out of context? He must be a great boyfriend.

    Frankly, O’Donnell could make better decisions in her sleep than Coons will since he supports the Obama/Pelosi agenda that we have witnessed for the passed number of years. I realize this isn’t as funny as all the mocking of O’Donnell but if anyone thinks we can keep up the multi-trillion dollar debt load we have signed onto lately , I can’t figure out why.

    O’Donnell makes a lot more sense than Pelosi and Obama and the only reason I can see why the GOPs aren’t “all in” must be because she isn’t in on the scam the GOP and Dems must have in that state. She might actually let us rubes in on what is going on.

  • cordpt

    The Delaware state GOP doesn’t have the means to affect the outcome of a statewide election in the most residual way.

    The idea that they could have moved a 15 points race to a toss-up is amusing, to say the least. I mean, the twitter? They have 300 followers. Are you serious with this?

    After this election, some people will have to man-up and take responsibility for what they did during the primaries and what they didn’t in the general. It seems some are more confortable with intra-party fights than dishing out to the democrats. The leaders of those PACs that spent more money against republicans running in primaries than against democrats can’t be taken seriously anymore. A propos, it’d be a good idea to make a contribution to American Crossroads, which is doing a marvelous job supporting conservatives in their battle against socialist democrats all over the country:

    https://www.kintera.org/site/c.9iIPI6NIKeK0F/b.6319163/k.FD95/Make_A_Contribution/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?msource=ACMainSite

  • AceInTX

  • AceInTX

    when we the people get our backs up and decide we’ve been lorded over by these buffoons long enough!

  • Aaron Gardner
  • cordpt

    O

  • Aaron Gardner
  • cordpt

    what exactly supporting republicans mean, it seems to me.

    I support every single Republican running for public office against a democrat/3rd party. Every single one. And I’m not a fan of losing much time in intra-party fights.

    You’re more worried on bashing fellow republicans than on engaging on the fight against democrats.

    And what everybody can see – at least the grown ups amongst us – is that you wrote this post and then you can’t answer the criticism except with childish insults and strawman arguments.

  • SirGladiator

    I agree 100%, and I disagree with some of the comments related to the idea that somehow Christine is a sub-par canddiate. She is the only person to defeat the King of Delaware, Mike Castle, in how many decades? Three or four I’m guessing. I guess by that logic, everybody else he beat in all those decades were just the weakest candidates in the history of mankind. The reality is that she is an extremely strong candidate, she beat Castle on his own turf, and now she’s going to beat the Democrat.

    She was ahead of Coons in the polling a few months or so back, before the liberal Republican smear machine went into huge effect with their blatant lies and distortions, which didn’t fool most of the Republican Primary voters but did seem to fool the Independents and Democrats, as well as a small segment of Republicans. That is the damage that Christine has been tasked with undoing in order to win this election, a task that no other GOP candidate this cycle had to deal with. The fact that the State GOP hasn’t really done much to help her is no surprise, the fact that the DSCC has been running ads against her while the NRSC hasnt run any ads to support her is unfortunate but certainily no big surprise, these are establishment types who hate Christine.

    There are those who want her to lose, and they want to point to her in 2012 and say ‘If you nominate Sarah Palin for President, or XYZ Tea Party candidate for House/Senate, they’re going to lose like Christine did, you have to vote for our favorite liberal Republican if you want to win’. But those folks are in for a big surprise, as Christine is dominating the debates, she’s running super awesome TV ads, of course she’s fantastic on the stump and in the interviews (like the one she recently did with Greta), she’s one of the strongest candidates we’ve got nationwide, and she’s going to win this race!

  • itrytobenice

    Your little smiley face thingies are wonderful. I just want you to know how much I enjoy your comments and their animation.

  • cordpt

    What are you talking about?

    Since when answering that question is not supporting O’Donnell? Are you okay?

  • Aaron Gardner

    I have a record of supporting the Republican regardless of whether that Republican was my favored candidate or not.

    I too want to work to get every candidate elected. I just wish the DE GOP felt the same way.

    Strong State Parties means strong local GOTV operations.

    As far as answering peoples accusations, I linked to the sites that show no effort has been taken. I have screen shots but I didn’t feel like cluttering the diary.

    You can run along now, I don’t take too kindly to people nipping at my heels and calling me childish.

  • IJB

    Considering how you’ve been beating this dead horse for two weeks now, I’m thinking you won’t be missed.

  • smitch61

    For Christine, and sent her some more greenback. How dense could the people of DE really be? It is not over till the fat lady sings. Then she can tell Rove and Krauthammer to go straight to hell.

  • albeus

    O’Donnell’s problem is O’Donnell. Based only on her TV appearances, she comes off as someone who is not bright. Voters will cast ballots for politically inexperienced candidates if the candidate displays the ability and intelligence to learn quickly. Sadly, O’Donnell has yet to demonstrate any such abilities. She is not someone I could vote.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • cordpt

    In Delaware, there’s no strong state party and there won’t be on in the near future.

    Again, they have 300 twitter followers or so and you believe that their effort on social networks “would have moved this race to a toss-up”?

    In states like Delaware, it’s all about the candidate.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • cordpt

    non-stop. I take 2 or 3 minutes every morning to take a glance at the FP and may come back later in the day to read some diary that looked particularly intriguing, but I doubt I’ve made a comment here in the last 2 weeks.

    You’re probably confusing me with someone else.

  • JSobieski

    and the popping of this bubble will be GOOD for the economy

  • cordpt

    I’ve refuted the part of your post where you explicitly claimed that a more warming and committed support from the state party would significantly help our chances of gaining the DE senate seat.

    I explained why it isn’t so – and, in all honesty, it was a pretty easy case to make.

    Reasonable and well-argued disagreement is nice and useful, as you’ll certainly agree.

    I don’t have the slightest problem with the rest of the arguments/claims in your post.

  • Finrod

    Compare to Castle and Murkowsky and Bennett and the other moderate backstabbers.

    Yeah, SteveLA. Would you like some cheese and crackers to go with that fine whine?

  • aurelv

    It is Coons they are worried about. He is, after all, a rather underwhelming candidate.
    A majority of Delaware voters think O’Donnell is a joke and not qualified to be a Senator. An even higher percentage, i’m guessing, believes that she has no chance of winning. Couple that with the fact that Coons is not going to inspire anyone to vote for him and you may have a situation where the democrat and independent voters, who view the possibility of O’Donnell winning as preposterous, won’t even bother voting.
    The irony is that any poll which shows a significant tightening of the race will motivate the democrats and independents to come out and vote… just to make sure. So maybe Christine can do a couple more interviews and say something genuinely stupid and move those poll numbers back down.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • Aaron Gardner

    Too slick by half.

  • cordpt

    He endorsed her opponent in the primary. Anyway, endorsements are overrated, I don’t see Christie or anyone else having much of an effect.

    What she needs is more money because her campaign is all about the airwaves, she doesn’t seem to like public events.

    I’m a bit disappointed that people like Sen. DeMint and Sarah Palin haven’t helped her more with the fund-raising. They haven’t been doing much since the primary. It’s a shame Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie are so busy banking other candidates around the country, but maybe they can find a way of taking down Chris Coons as well? Let’s hope so.

  • rfpzzzzz

    What positions of Coons do you think are better than O’Donnell’s?

  • Aaron Gardner
  • cordpt

    Your ability to read stuff in my comments is entering the realm of bizarre. After the “you don’t support the republican candidate” now we have “a proxy war”? Between Rove and DeMint? LOL. C’mon…

    Dude, I disagreed with an aspect of your post and you weren’t really able to respond and chose not to acknowledge the criticism. It’s no big deal. Learn from it and move on. You don’t to go after every comment I make and leave some odd and bitter remark.

  • cordpt

    I find the idea that your answer to the question

    If the Delaware GOP had used it

  • Aaron Gardner

    Sen. DeMint’s PAC has given money to the O’Donnell campaign, nothing is stopping Rove and Gillespie from helping.

    As far as your criticism goes, I acknowledged it. It was just wrong. Learn from that.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • cordpt

    That’s where I found your answer to the question “can a 300 followers twitter turn a double-digit state wide race into a toss-up?” was I don’t know, “we will never know” because they haven’t tried.

    That’s exactly what I find deeply disturbing.

  • Aaron Gardner

    The entire problem is the the DE GOP only has 300 followers. How hard is that for you to get?

    The DE GOP, the structure that has propped up Castle, and vice versa, has no infrastructure. The have no base. They are a complete failure as an organization.

    O’Donnell’s candidacy simply exposed that.

    In order to take back our government and our party, we will need strong state parties that can assist candidates.

    I don’t see why this is so hard for you to comprehend.

  • cordpt

    besides showing the silliness of the suggestion that the DE GOP could make a difference in any way.

    There’s only one party that matters in Delaware: the DBP – Dupont and Banks Party. Delaware has been a one-party state, at least since Pete du Pont IV and that’s the ruling clique. It makes sense, since most of the population in the state depends on Dupont, the banks and the credit card industry to make a living, directly or indirectly. It’s like WV with the coal or Iowa with the farms, but to a more extreme degree.

    That’s why all Delaware politicians, from the Republicans and the Dems, are friends and their agendas are very similar. That’s why the fiscal laws in DE are so business friendly, in spite of being a fairly leftist state. That’s why you’ve never seen major political figures from Delaware running against each other – when Castle ran for Congress, Carper ran for Governor.

    Having the support of the other parties is thoroughly unimportant. On the other hand, the failure rate of candidates not endorsed by the DBP in state-wide elections is extremely high.

    This is why O’Donnell’s odds aren’t good, not because of Tom Ross and a handful of his friends not supporting her.

  • cordpt

    It was a good thing I decided to pass by and make the note that they only have 300 followers in my comments.

    I’ve explained some stuff about the Delaware party system in a comment below.

  • juumanistra

    Carney’s running attack ads, taking potshots at both Urquhart and O’Donnell. Of course, from what I’ve seen, Coons’s advertising is at least four times as dense as Carney’s, and Carney’s probably 1.5x more prolific than O’Donnell. Haven’t seen anything on the airwaves about Urquhart, whom I feel bad for: Of all the DE Republican candidates for who tried to run federal office this cycle, he was the one who I’d have most liked to see go to Washington.

    I think there’s an important distinction needs to be made about Delaware being “pretty business friendly”. Delaware is certainly friendly to corporations, with incorporation fees continuing to be a rather lucrative income stream for the state government. Whether the state is friendly to “business” in the broader sense of productive economic activity is another question entirely.

  • AceInTX

    She hasn’t run third party or decided to take her ball and go home…that would be Castle

  • AceInTX

    so don’t go wrapping yourself in the mantle of the Gipper…and I suspect he’d have had a problem with the maverick as well…

    People like you always like to pretend he never spoke out against pale pastels….

    terribly inconvenient things those facts when we trip ourselves over them aren’t they?

  • cordpt

    All of them ran on third party/independent lines against the GOP candidate. Just answering E Pluribus Unum’s question. No big deal.

  • AceInTX

  • cordpt

    Yeah, Reagan ran against Ford. And when he lost the nomination at the convention endorsed him. Didn’t keep bashing him – and, as I do, would bash the low level characters who would dare to.

    So, you’re wrong: Reagan would never bash McCain now, in the moment he’s running against a democrat. That’s something only a miserable could do. Certainly not Reagan.

  • cordpt

    Very pro-business in the sense of being pro-interest groups and corporation rent-seekers, not so much pro-economic freedom.

  • AceInTX

    I don’t pretend to speak for Reagan….nor should you

    as to whether he’d have backed McCain once he was nominated…I’m sure he would have….but whether he’d sit quiet;ly by while McCain used McCain Fiengold restrictions to block money to challengers with no political connections while he set up his own network of money men to back RINOs like he has is another question isn’t it.

    I won’t name the names of McCain’s lackeys right now because some of them are running in the general right now and I’ve sworn to do no harm….at least till the election is over….but I think Dutch would be working overtime against the statists in the Republican Party like McCain, Graham and the rest of the crap weasels they support.

  • AceInTX

    I think Dutch would be working overtime against the statists in the Republican Party like McCain, Graham and the rest of the crap weasels they support.

  • AceInTX

    She ran in a primary and won….that’s the way it works….

  • cordpt

    Keyes, Schmitz, Buchanan, O’Donnell. etc.

    Is this really that hard to understand? It’s history, it’s factual, there’s nothing to discuss about it. Use a search engine if you lack basic historical knowledge on this issue.

  • juumanistra

    Two rather important points that I feel I must make:
    1) People argue O’Donnell is a sub-par candidate because…well, she is a sub-par candidate. She has no discernible accomplishments in either the public or private sector, while having a rather large amount of baggage which, by now, everyone has heard something about. I really don’t know how the argument that she is not, at the very least, deeply flawed candidate can be made with a straight face.

    2) Castle was defeated because the Delaware GOP south of the C&D Canal finally made its presence felt. The simple fact of the matter is that the demographic changes which the state has been enduring for the last two decades has rendered the traditional GOP a rump, with its base down to a husk of what it once was in New Castle County and the the conservative elements of Kent and Sussex Counties. (The latter two, especially Sussex County, being far more in-line with the values and culture of Flyover Country than New Castle County.) Half of the votes in the primary would originate in Kent and Sussex County, which themselves only contain a third of the state’s population. So when you combine a base which is increasingly inclusive of Tea Party sorts, taking aim a particularly ire-raising target like Castle, it comes as no surprise that his comeuppance came: You could have run an effigy of Pete DuPont and it probably would have beaten Castle in the current environment, despite being, quite literally, a straw-man. As Kent and Sussex Counties only account for a third of the population, it’s little wonder that winning large margins there hasn’t exactly translated into groundswells of electoral support in the general.

  • Adjoran

    doesn’t sound like the rhetoric of winners to me.

    In a small state, statewide candidates can do multiple events every day, and have to if they start out far behind. I have not seen that sort of aggressive activity from the O’Donnell campaign.

    It will be interesting to see how the $5 million has been spent after the election. If she spends it all and loses, perhaps finger-pointing would be justified, but at Castle for failing to step up and endorse her, not the state party.

    Strange that we expect them to be out beating pans or whatever (she has many times the funds they do, btw), yet O’Donnell is still lambasting them all the time. Here’s a clue: when you talk trash about people, they become less likely to support you enthusiastically.

    Concerning Castle, he should have stepped up. He didn’t. But she could also have reached out with an olive branch. I see no evidence of that either.

    Those who think Castle wouldn’t have won must not only disregard every single poll taken, but also his 12 straight statewide wins. Sure he got beat in the primary, but the GOP primary voter is definitely not very representative of the Delaware electorate that keeps the likes of Biden and Carper in office..

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    You just can’t go around screaming “Kill the RINOs!!!” every day and then complain the RINOs don’t have your back. It simply makes no sense.

  • juumanistra

    Being pro-economic freedom is rather tough in the state, if only because the demographics are screwy. And they are skewed because 65% of the population is in New Castle County, which is screwy because it is, at once, home to the furthest rings of Philadelphia’s suburbs (whose composition are themselves are…unique, given almost everyone up the Concord Pike and in the Westchester area moved there first and foremost for tax reasons), an overwhelmingly poor and black urban area (in Wilmington and its environs), a flagship university town (in Newark and its environs), and various traditionally blue-collar manufacturing folk. All of which tend to, for one reason or another, be opposed to the most important pillars of economic freedom.

    The solution? Give Pennsylvania New Castle County. I’m sure they’d be happy to have South-South Philadelphia and another state university of dubious value.

  • powertothepeople

    as you do a piss poor job at it. Save the dribble for the left who will love it.

  • expatuae

    Or more accurately the title here would be, O’Donnell is PA’s problem.

    Keeping Christine strong in the news hurts Toomey and 4-5 house candidates in PA. DE is the same media market as Philadelphia. Southern style social conservatism plays poorly in the suburbs there, which used to be reliably Republican.

    This play is the Dems only shot to keep the Senate seat (and some of the 5 house seats in play).

    Democrats don’t have anything else to run on- tired left wing ideas from Sestak. They can’t talk about the economy. Toomey is a strong polished candidate. With his baggage, the President can only do so much direct campaigning in PA without harming their candidates.

    So they try to tar Toomey with the crazy brush, focus on witchcraft, masturbation, etc. maybe they can turn out in Philadelphia (Dem base) and the suburbs (formerly Republican turf, but recently the swing vote in the state) for Sestak.

    The superficial similarity between O’Donnell ousting Castle and Toomey ousting Specter helps them make this associations plausible.

  • expatuae

    Or more accurately the title here would be, O’Donnell is PA’s problem.

    Keeping Christine strong in the news hurts Toomey and 4-5 house candidates in PA. DE is the same media market as Philadelphia. Southern style social conservatism plays poorly in the suburbs there, which used to be reliably Republican.

    This play is the Dems only shot to keep the Senate seat (and some of the 5 house seats in play).

    Democrats don’t have anything else to run on- tired left wing ideas from Sestak. They can’t talk about the economy. Toomey is a strong polished candidate. With his baggage, the President can only do so much direct campaigning in PA without harming their candidates.

    So they try to tar Toomey with the crazy brush, focus on witchcraft, masturbation, etc. maybe they can turn out in Philadelphia (Dem base) and the suburbs (formerly Republican turf, but recently the swing vote in the state) for Sestak.

    The superficial similarity between O’Donnell ousting Castle and Toomey ousting Specter helps them make this associations plausible.

  • expatuae

    Where would New Castle county be if not for Pennsylvanians seeking out tax free shopping and private sector liquor sales?

    For everyone’s sake, let DE keep it.

  • expatuae

    If the DE GOP had the ability to help O’Donnell significantly, she wouldn’t be the candidate in the first place.

    She has raised plenty of money and has no excuses or other groups to blame for not performing.

  • rfpzzzzz

    A black Dem that has to campaign in Philly is pathetic. The rest of the state seems pretty much GOP judging by the last primary election and recent polls. This is a referendum on Obama and Pelosi. I see no evidence outside of the possible exception of the Philly market that DE means anything. Anyone who is focusing on 10-15 year old clips of O’Donnell are children. Everyone else knows about unemployment, debt, wasteful spending and too much government. Coons is a rubber stamp for more of this madness and O’Donnell is a vote against the Obama / Pelosi cabal. It really is that simple.

  • and1morething

    are desperate to back a winner they can’t turn into a loser. They obviously see this race as a ‘done deal.’

  • and1morething

    It is a rare Senator who has so few debts to repay. That should be her mantra. She owes the establishment NOTHING. It is a very few she owes anything at all. She would be free to do her job without those pesky paybacks.

  • rdelbov

    its all on Christine and I dislike this flaying of the Delaware GOP party.

    1. The #1 person and item on the homepage of the Delaware GOP website is Christine ODonnell. There is her smiling face and a link to her website.

    2. The GOP calendar has events listed by local legislative candidates and the local congressional candidate. The site has nothing from Christine ODonnells schedule but guess what? Christine has nothing listed on her schedule on her website. Nothing. There is not an event listed on her site where you can see Christine in DE?

    I think the hit on Christine that is the premise of this post is totally incorrect. I say that with due respect but I encourage others to check out Christine’s site-the full GOP party site of DE plus other candidates and other party sites. There is no snub of Christine ODonnell.

    The attack on the republican party of DE lead me to question the ODonnell campaign. I prefer not to second guess how to run campaigns until they are over. I support Christine and I hope she wins.

    I do want to point out that DE has a long history of “retail” politics where candidates go to Amtrak station to meet commuters-you go to Saturday afternoon college football game-you go to Friday night hight school football games–you wave signs and wave to commuters and you stage community meet and greets in people’s homes or local civic clubs. Its not that hard to meet 1000 people a day in DE -its a small state and that would be about 1/2 of the votes cast. Christine’s website is all about fundraising–TV debates-her TV ads-TV & radio appearances. Maybe she needs to campaign.

  • cordpt

    as he did with a certain liberal republican from New England, who was way to the left of McCain. What do you say?

    Plus, considering that McCain was one of Reagan’s biggest allies in the Hill and a good friend of him, pardon me of being doubtful of young kids fantasies. Reagan knew how to separate things, how to assert your political views inside the party on a positive way, without going after persons. He was very good at working the necessary political compromises to advance his agenda – he did with democrats, let alone with centrist republicans.

    One thing we can all agree: Reagan would never tolerate tasteless, childish and like calling a republican candidate “McLame”. He’d despise that kind of behaviour and the kind of person that engages on it. To be honest, I very much doubt any reliable republican would do that and that any conservative would lack the basic rules of civility.

  • Common_Cents

    He wants to be on he winning team and claim victory.

  • AceInTX

    You were answering EPUs challenge to name conservatives who have refused to abide by voters decisions in primaries, Endorsed a Democrat rather than support the Conservative, switched parties and/or run third party….

    You did a good job in bringing people up who I hadn’t thought of and I’ll admit you shut me up a couple weeks ago by doing the same thing when I was issuing the same challenge without thinking of the conservatives who had done so…

    That said…the question I have asked you three times now…for which I’m criticizing you and for which you’ve been called out on by a front pager is…WHY ARE YOU INCLUDING O’DONNELL in the list since she’s not abandoned the party, endorsed a Democrat, Switched Parties, or refused to endorse a candidate after losing a primary?

  • AceInTX

    Reagan would have fought McCain Fiengold and he’d have opposed the gang of 14 deal…I’m not sure how he’d have come down on Amnesty but I suspect he’d have opposed it after being burned in 1986.

    McCain is an enemy of the first Amendment and the results of the 2008 as tragic as they are for this country are the just deserts of the arrogance and hubris of Mr. Know It All. The Irony of his going down in flames as the result of his own campaign finance restrictions is too rich to be ignored.

    Look at the results of its being over turned. Republicans are the ones who are benefiting from it’s repeal. I always said McCain Fiengold in addition to being an incumbent protection bill was aimed at defunding conservatives and the story of this election will be that the flood gates are open…and conservatives once again have a voice since the old fart had his prize legislation gutted….

    I loath the man and his vapid arrogance and self promoting puffery disguised as honor and integrity…and that seems to stick in your craw….but I’ll not apologize for it…

    He got my vote in 2008 and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I violated so many things I hold dear for that vote because to have voted for Obama or stayed home would have been so much worse…but no matter how hard a scrub….no matter how long I soak and try to scrape it off…I will never feel clean again and I don’t think I’ll ever get over the emotional rape of having to cast a vote for the fraud that is John Sydney McCain.

  • AceInTX

    instead of health care….

    Which is worse for this country I don’t know…President McCain would have been better for this country in the same sense that having a cold is better than having the flu….but that’s about it as far as I’m concerned.

  • rdelbov

    with you on your observations of the ODonnell campaign.

    I might add that AG has played into Christine’s victimhood game. ODonnell has spent the better part of her TV & Radio appearances complaining about her lack of GOP support as opposed to actually campaigning.

    I repeat one prediction of mine and will now add another to it.

    a. I predict Christine will have between one and two million in leftover campaign funds as of 11-02-2010.

    b. I further predict that that will carry her victimhood mantra on as she plots a senate race in 2012 in DE.

    Okay before I get slammed for attacking a GOP candidate lets just say that has been the norm from posters here from the front page to the back page.

  • fpete13527

    Thanks for you stand on the detriment that McClame is.

    And……those emoticons are toooooo cool. Do you have more Yosemite Sam ones?:))

  • ceili_dancer

    Rino Manifesto after the election (I could print that out and make some use of it when I run out of pages of the Sears catalogue). Also, I think using the loaded word “manifesto” after RINO is very apropo. Thanks for the use of the Blamstick. :)

  • Aaron Gardner

    Okay before I get slammed for attacking a GOP candidate lets just say that has been the norm from posters here from the front page to the back page.

    Don’t try to justify your lack of support for the GOP candidate in DE with false statements about those who write on the FP.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Were you born a moron, or did you have to work to get to that point?

  • aesthete

    in 2006 after coming in third place in the Republican primary for Senate against Republican Jan Ting and Democrat Thomas Carper.

  • aesthete

    McCain-Feingold is one of the worst pieces of legislation to have come down the pike in the ’00s: and that’s saying something.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Therefore any opinion you put forth is worthless.

  • cordpt

    I’m sure you’re a lot closer to McCain politically than I am. After all, you have a picture of RINO Fred Thompson, the staunch supporter of McCain-Feingold-Thompson Act, that barbaric assault on liberty, in your sig. I am to the right of 99% of the republican party anyway, so it’s no big deal.

    I just wanted to note that George Bush in the 80s was to the left of McCain in the 00s (he was a liberal Republican from New England, akin to the Maine Senators) and that didn’t stop Reagan from compromising with him. I don’t want to display hostility towards those who aren’t as conservative as myself like McCain and Fred Thompson; I want to persuade them. And I’m more interested in America than in the GOP – so, like Reagan (or Burke), I have no problems with political compromise and alliance-building.

    You’re clearly a psychologically affected person, as you admit yourself and I hope you’re having good help trying to overcome that emotional/psychiatric distress, but I’m not sure if a site dedicated to elect Republicans is the right place for you. It seems to me you have deep and and overemotional problem with too many republican candidates. Maybe you should just talk about candidates you personally like. In any case, I wish you good luck.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    cordpt, dial it way back.

  • expatuae

    Right, people should be focusing on the economy. We have in PA where Toomey has been leading with that message. But crazier issues drive ratings.

    Black presidents drive Dem turn-out in Philly (1.5mm people). Social conservatives drive Dem turn-out in Philly suburbs (3.4mm people). Collectively 1/3rd of the state. No Republican has won statewide without winning the Philly suburbs.

    Being out in front of Terry Schiavo, stem cells (huge biotech/ pharma/ research base in Philly), comparing homosexuality with bestiality, and generally being seen as a creature of the “religious right” mightily contributed to Santorum’s 60-40 drubbing in 2006.

    There is a reason Christie and other elected officials in the region are not supportive- not an “establishment” plot. It is sheer self-interest in electoral prospects.

  • http://church-discipline.blogspot.com/ cdhost

    Deleware is a great state to raise money. The P and VP weren’t really there to help Coons but rather to raise campaign funds.

  • http://church-discipline.blogspot.com/ cdhost

    – I would like to see moderates stick with the party on a tough vote or two just once.

    What do you think the moderates did all during 2009-10? Most moderates liked Obamacare Most moderates wanted a larger stimulus. Most moderates wanted financial reform….

  • Uma Richie

    my feeling was that Santorum dug his own grave by his earlier endorsement of Specter, his uber-commute to DC from Leesburg, VA rather than from PA, and reports of his children abusing some sort of schooling privilege paid for by PA taxpayers. Instead of his religions views being the problem, it was the lack of consistency between his convictions and his actions listed above that I had a problem with. It was obvious to me that he had become a DC insider. I had to hold my nose to vote for him.

    My feeling was that Casey ran as part of the religious right, pretended to be pro-life, and cashed in on the goodwill that his father generated among social conservatives.

    Let’s also not forget that the GOP gub. nominee that year was a Steeler, and Ed Rendell’s political machine was in full force.

    Also, I am pretty sure that voters see Sestak as the guy who drove out Specter in May, not Toomey.

  • http://church-discipline.blogspot.com/ cdhost

    All things being equal more women are democrats more men are republicans. All things being equal women do support women politicians a bit more then men.

    Delaware’s women (and men) are democrats or liberal republicans. Also the people of Delaware don’t like O’Donnell because of her loss to Biden. But I don’t now if Jim DeMint would be doing any better.

  • http://church-discipline.blogspot.com/ cdhost

    Or she could run for a state office like state senate of county commissioner. She could become a player in state office capable of raising money for her fellow DE Republicans from out of state.

    That’s not an unhappy ending.

  • AceInTX

    And I say without equivocation she was wrong to have done so

  • AceInTX

    whatever you think

  • Doc Holliday

  • tea4me

    I fully agree with your original post

  • tea4me

    I watched both the ODonnell/Coons debate and the Angle/Reid debate.

    ODonnell was hands down better in the debate then Angle was. Although I still thought Angle helped herself a great deal.

    ODonnell just nailed Coons time after time. And did so in a very well spoken way. Only a die hard lefty could come away saying Coons won that debate.

  • expatuae

    Agree regarding Santorum being an insider and did the same nose holding. The brand of social conservatism that played out in DC is dominated by southerners- it doesn’t play well in the Northeast, even among pro-life voters.

    This isn’t snobbery or elitism, but a sort of regional pride. But why put ancillary issues that are red meat for the Dems to drive their base turn-out, and put-off independents?

    You think South Carolina voters would react favorably to Chuck Shumer, or even Scott Brown, rolling into town with endorsements in their image?

  • RedBeard

    I’m not sure where any valid argument against Aaron’s original post can be found. Seems clear enough, just by paying attention, that a great many establishment R people should be ashamed of themselves.

    First they supported liberal Mike Castle, then they failed to support the winner of the primary in any substantive manner. Some drove so far into madness that they actually bashed O’Donnell, their party’s primary election winner, in public, in what can only be viewed as a take-our-ball-and-go-home tantrum.

    It’s rather silly and irrelevant to drag McCain into this, but since it has already been done by others, I will say this. I do not like John McCain’s politics, yet I still campaigned hard for him in 2008 after he became the nominee, defending him against attacks from both the left and (sadly) short-sighted conservatives. I expect the same consideration from “moderate” Republicans now, regarding O’Donnell.

    We have an election to win. Toward that end, we do not need a bunch of childishly petulant Republican “leaders” making that task more difficult through inaction, or worse through deliberate sabotage of the party’s own candidate. This isn’t a playground argument over who gets to play 1st base; this is about the future of America.

  • rdelbov

    website and Christine ODonnell is #1 itme on the homepage.

    Christine ODonnell is the #1 candidate listed on “our candidate page”

    There is no list of “endorsed GOP” candidates on the webpages because if you are the nominee of the party you are endorsed by the party. There is no letter endorsing any candidate because every nominee is the defacto endorsed candidate.

    There is no Christine ODonnell event listed on the DE party website because there is no Christine ODonnell events listed on her website.

    The whole premise of this post that the GOP party of Delaware is shunning Christine appears to have no basis in reality. Look at the website and they promote Christine ODonnell 1st and provide numerous links to her website.
    Not every state party provides direct contribution to candidates but if you note there are several HQ’s and literature drops highlighted. I am sure she will benefit from that.

    I note today that Christine ODonnell is back to the whinning post. Christine has now raised over 5 million dollars which is an all time record for Delaware. That’s all time fundraising record yet she is complaining that the NRSC has paid for any ads. Is the foe of Gillibrand whinning? No and he has not raised 5 million bucks either.

    I am for turning this country around but building a false strawman of establishemnt bogie man is not the way to do it.

  • tngal

    Today she gets on “This Week” and calls Christine ” a nut job”. This is the same McCain who dissed Sarah Palin. Fine, her daddy ran for prez, lost, and all of sudden SHE’S the oracle of all things political. Someone needs to spank that spoiled brat and not in a good way. She should just come out of the closet and admit she’s a lib. If she can’t find it in herself to publicly endorse a candidate, show up at a photo op and shake the candidate’s hand, or blog something promotional about a candidate, she should shut the he!! up.

  • Donald Ayotte

    I live in Delaware and we are seeking a replacement for Tom Ross. We will wait until after the election to avoid further splitting the party.

  • aesthete

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    Cow Patty

  • tngal

    hadn’t heard it in years. Thanks for the Sunday funny. She is fer shure an airhead.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Thanks for the on the ground update.

    I think waiting until after the election is certainly a good move. I hope you all find a fighter who is willing to build up the state party.

  • danielbdp

    Despite what polls may indicate, this race is tightening, and with united support from Conservatives around the country, and a vigorous GOTV effort, Christine CAN WIN!

    Conservative principles will win over statism and liberal tax & spend every time if properly presented to the American people, even in Delaware, and despite all the active and passive opposition from liberal elites of both parties.

    Don’t give up! Christine certainly won’t!

    Remember all the harm that will happen if she’s not the Senator-elect during the lame-duck congress, if “Harry’s pet” gets elected…then make your biggest possible contribution to her campaign – do it for yourself, your family and your country’s future. GOTV yourself in Delaware among your neighbors; don’t wait for the failed state GOP leadership to do the honorable thing and help the people’s duly elected Conservative Republican nominee.

    PS – I have nothing personal to gain, but the satisfaction of doing my part to save our country from financial collapse and from becoming another Chavez-styled banana republic!