Sep 15 2010
Reality Strikes Back In DE
As expected, Christine O’Donnell has a huge hole to climb out of to demonstrate purity to the right is better than winning seats in Congress:
Republicans more than likely cost themselves a Senate seat last night. Chris Coons begins the general election in Delaware with a 50-34 lead over Christine O’Donnell. Mike Castle would have led Coons by a 45-35 margin.
While O’Donnell may have ingratiated herself to Delaware’s small group of registered Republicans over the last month she’s turned off everyone else. An August Daily Kos/PPP poll in Delaware found her favorability rating at 23/33. It’s now 29/50.
If Castle had won he would have received more Democratic support than any other Republican Senate candidate in the country. Now our polling suggests with O’Donnell’s victory that Coons will win more Republicans than any other Democratic Senate candidate in the country. That’s because of a general unwillingness to support O’Donnell from Castle’s moderate base- folks from the centrist wing of the GOP are planning to support Coons 54-31.
Look, you can be pure all day long, but if you cannot guide the direction of Congress you are completely impotent. Why get out and vote or run candidates if your preference is to sit out the decision process in the bliss of purity? If we are not fighting to redirect the country with a broad coalition, we are wasting everyone’s time and money. You cannot win if your platform is to attack centrists. Geez, How did Obama and the Dems get into such deep trouble this year? Ignoring the center of course. The end result of this easily could be that DE traded a right of center moderate for a far left marxist, and the nation traded a chance for changing our path away from economic hell in 2011 to now having to wait until 2013. This is what is known as a Pyrrhic Victory.
I hate relearning hard lessons that should be learnt by now.
Update: I must note Coon’s being right at 50% means O’Donnell could get within striking distance, as has happened in CT, WI, WV, WA & CA. The only question is besides being possible – what is probable.
What you have posted above is exactly what I was trying to say over the past few days. O’Donnell, due to her unfavorable rating, may motivate a lot of Democrats to the polls to vote against her who might have stayed home if Castle was running.
And since this is Joe Biden’s seat, the winner of the election in November is seated immediately and doesn’t wait until January.
It looks like Delaware will have a D in the seat this this fall unless Democrats simply don’t vote.
Look… it was YOU … it was the “MODERATE” repubs who were doing all the dirty “attacking” … of … Ms. O”Donnell…
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Now is the time to support her…
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Stop your whining, people.. Get to work and support the candidate
the Repub party nominated…
TOES,
I am not a repub. And O’Donnell has issues. It does not do her any good to ignore the issues. She needs to know them so she can have a prayer of fixing them. Whistling past the grave yard never works.
CP, there is a window to pull this out – but it is up to O’Donnell to fix it. She needs to recognize her problems and deal with them
AJ,
Delaware continues to prove by the example of behavior that RINO’s like Castle, Specter, Crist and Murkowski are the real intolerant people in the Republican Party.
Regards O’Donnell’s electability, my reply is the following:
“Senator Al Franken”
If a man in a diaper can get elected based on political tribe in America.
A hot chick from another political tribe can.
Castle and the RSCC’s pooping all over O’Donnell’s candidacy is probably better for her than their endorsements and money.
“The end result of this easily could be that DE traded a right of center moderate for a far left marxist, and the nation traded a chance for changing our path away from economic hell in 2011 to now having to wait until 2013.”
That is the probable result – but we’re going to have at LEAST two more years of economic hell no matter who wins, so that’s a wash. Republicans are setting themselves up for a huge fall if they claim that their election will make any difference in that short a time frame. Which just loops back to why I think, in the grand scheme of things, it’s better to lose a few races like this. Too much power too early will do nothing but breed resentment and disapointment, which is exactly what has happened to the Dems. Voters are going to need a cause to get behind in 2012, and adding the Senate to the House will be a great one.
and I would never call anyone who voted for cap and trade “right of center”. Castle was a left of center politician who found it to his personal advantage to caucus with the Republicans. We were told Arlen Specter had to be supported in 2004 for the same reasons – and it’s clear now that the Republicans would have been far better off to have dumped him right then and there. The difference between Castle and a guy like Scott Brown is that although Brown is a moderate, he never told the Tea Party to go to hell. Castle did, and for that reason I think that the GOP is stronger without him.
There are more important things than short term power, after all. The Establishment doesn’t believe that, but the rest of us do. And I’ll bet NO ONE EVER runs for office as a Republican again and tells the Tea Party to go piss off!!
I call that a Very Good Thing, Indeed!
trent,
Your use of RINO tells the whole story about tolerance.
A potential immediate benefit from this race that hasn’t been talked about yet – I’m betting, (and this is pure speculation based on gut feeling on my part, I have no evidence) I am betting that on Friday Murkowski gives up any attempt at a write-in campaign, thus ensuring a Miller Senate win in Alaska.
Why? Because this election is going to be the final straw that convinces her that this wave is too big to beat. A win by Castle might have given her hope, convinced her that the Tea Party was thin and weak. Now she knows it isn’t.
If this is true, then we may have just traded a loss for a guaranteed win for a conservative that EVERYONE likes. Watch the news, Murkowski’s decision will be out on Friday.
Trent… This Alaskan opines… We Alaskans did not think Senator Murkowski was “intolerant” or anything like that… We (Repub) primary voters simply preferred Joe Miller by a slim margin … Your comment is insulting … Grow up …
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Now… if she goes for a write-in campaign… I may reconsider …
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You might even opine that we (Alaskans) have been pretty stupid to give up 40+ years Senate seniority (Ted Stevens) … plus 8 years (Murkowski) for a combined 2 years after this cycle … heh …
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We make our choices in this life…
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Here’s a small factoid about Alaska… Having vacationed in Wash DC … twice… both times we scored :15-:20 PERSONAL TIME … with each of our three Representatives… Stevens/Murkowski/Young … They fight!! for every single one of our votes … Rep. Young was very cute… FIRST thing before sitting down to chat… Pose for an 8×10 photo with him which was developed and given to us on departure …
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I imagine Senator Begich (D) would do much the same …
So now the MSM and left wings are calling this thing extreme far right.
Why are limited governance, self-governance, low taxes, controlled government spending considered extreme far right label? I consider the harsh “bible-thumbing” organized religion as the extreme far right while I don’t consider conservatism, by definition of limited government, self-governance, low taxes, self regulation, controlled government spending, extreme far right label.
MSM and left wings want the center to do this “go-along-to-get-along” deal in order to pass whatever is in their agenda to push for increased government statism.
I never understood why except it’s a game that has been played out for a long time.
What’s interesting is that I’m seeing a lot of posts at several conservative blogs basically emphasizing WWS’s explanation and confirming Rush Limbaugh’s “new rule” by voting for the best conservative candidate in spite of their lack of electability (opposed to Buckley’s rule). It is interesting that Rush chose and chose intentionally to ignore O’Donnell’s problems to argue why we should vote for those that will adhere to conservative principles and values. Rush may prefer a better candidate but the fact of the matter is that he chose someone against a “go-along-to-get-along” moderate candidate that voted with the Democrats on many topics that most Americans do not want.
One alluded to how the Republicans lost to Robert Byrd and wrote a letter to Michael Steele that he needs to lead. follow, and stand behind O’Donnell (check big government). People like this blogger expressed their anger towards Karl Rove’s comments and RNSC’s comments.
AJ,
And Castle’s actions say all that needs to be said about RINO’s
BTW, the “Official Opinion” on the Hot Chick (O’Donnell), just passed on to me by a friend with insider access:
“If she consistently stays on message and runs against Obama she has a chance.”
Which is why the mainstream GOP did a public 180 degree turn and just pledged to support the Hot Chick:
NRSC Onboard!
By PoliPundit ~ September 15th, 2010 @ 9:38 am 1 Comment »
NRSC begins support of O’Donnell with max donation.
The O’Donnell post-primary polling numbers (and NRSC donor backlash) must make for very interesting reading.
“Your use of RINO tells the whole story about tolerance.”
Also, tolerance goes with conservatism by definition. Not according to the definition used by the LSM and left-wings.
Check big journalism as there is a good blog there about how both parties are starting to realize how they are losing to the American public.
Does it matter whether O’Donnell wins or not? Probably not in November but probably more so for 2012 as last night’s win may in fact encourage MORE tea party people to work in nominating the conservative (by right definition) candidates for 2012.
The primary victories are just the beginning as long as we work towards in taking back our country to the center or conservatism by definition (if we want to equate center to conservatism).
By golly, what a great sales pitch! Sell conservatism == center == independence! That would really shake everything up!
Well, gotta say for once Delaware has two candidates who are definitely different ideologically.
Trent, this is the URl that I referred to:
http://biggovernment.com/kbyrne/2010/09/15/hey-gop-lead-follow-or-get-out-of-the-way/
Read his letter. Sounds like both NRSC and RNSC have gotten a lot of backlash over their comments and decision in NOT backing O’Donnell.
Kevin McCullogh said that this may be the landmark election year where nothing is the norm. Only Obama followed by Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” could have incited this level of voter anger and voter message telling WDC that they had enough of their big government spending, regulation, and thuggery.
WWS, your prediction regarding Murkowski just might be correct.
And here is a good argument: http://biggovernment.com/jdunetz/2010/09/15/odonnell-wins-in-delaware-is-the-senate-lost-for-republicans-no-no-no-and-no/#more-167889
“Others say that especially in the primary, O’Donnell was the way to go, because the primary is the time to vote based on ideology. Both are valid arguments, but the overriding factor is that primaries are the time for ideology, party leaders would tell you that after the primary season we are supposed to unite behind the party’s candidates and get that person elected. Heck, that’s exactly what we were told to do when John McCain was nominated for as the party’s candidate for President. For conservatives McCain was a bitter pill to swallow because many of his positions were similar to Barack Obama’s, without the pizzaz.”
Except…why would Castle endorse O’Donnell?
>Sounds like both NRSC and RNSC have gotten a lot of backlash
>over their comments and decision in NOT backing O’Donnell.
Glenn Reynolds got it exactly right when he said this about the Republican establishment:
ANOTHER UPDATE: As I predicted last night, a reversal from the NRSC: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee will support the O’Donnell campaign, according to a statement that was just released by its chairman, Sen. John Cornyn.”
So last night’s comments simply did unnecessary damage. Next time, think twice before spouting off guys. You’re supposed to be the polished, professional insiders, remember?
Trent,
Polished, professional insiders?
Ha!
Karl Rove is considered an insider but he trained himself to be the insider of the Republican establishment. He knows how to consult based on the “go-along-to-get-along” concept. He understands the ideology but he chose money and power over ideology.
And that’s the message of the recent primary victories regardless of the outcome in November. Vote on ideology over power and money and maybe we will eventually win the general elections and take back out country!
Karl Rove is going to have to re-learn this if he is to remain as a successful commentator on Fox News.
If a rookie can be elected as President of the United States… and… makes a mountain of rookie mistakes in the most powerful elected office in the world…
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We surely cannot worry a lot about rookie Senator’s… They won’t be perfect either …
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Think Alaska… Delaware… Calif… Nevada … etc …
I remember not being able to talk when I was born …
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Maaaay, sweetheart … where’s the checkbook? … That hot babe in Delaware needs some $$ …
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Did you see how that cranky old geezer she defeated reacted … ?
What Ed Morrissey just said:
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/15/gop-moans-about-losing-chance-to-take-control-of-senate-with-castle-defeat/
…What does Mike Castle’s crash and burn among Delaware Republicans say about their party organization? After all, we have heard oodles of commentary about how Delaware Republicans are moderates who might get energized by the Tea Party but supposedly aren’t looking for conservative candidates. Instead, they convinced Castle to leave a relatively safe House seat instead of looking for someone who hadn’t backed a government takeover of the energy sector in cap-and-trade (in a coal-dependent region!) and co-sponsored the DISCLOSE Act. Perhaps had the GOP establishment listened a little more carefully to Delaware Republicans, who turned out relatively heavily in this election, they wouldn’t find themselves crying in their lattes this morning.
They stuck with a liberal, establishment candidate in a cycle where liberals and establishment figures are uniquely unpopular. Had the Republican leadership been in touch with Delaware Republican voters, they might have found a more suitable candidate for the popular mood, and would not have had to deal with Christine O’Donnell and her outsider bid. They have no one to blame but themselves.
I re-post what I posted in the last posting of the 9/14/10 article:
I am so disgusted wit the GOP establishment and Rove in particular!
He tried to get “permanent GOP majority” by the way of amnesty and overspending to the LBJ levels, and he, and the other country club repubics, gave US Reid, Obama and Pelosi instead.
No more, no mas!!!!!
We are in revolt and we are not taking this crap anymore.
We want the GOP to live by the Constitution and that’s it.
If they get in the power again and don’t do good for the people they will be finished as party in two election cycles.
Take this a final warning, GOP!!