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Campaign Crawlers
Charging the Castle
Christine O’Donnell vs. the GOP Establishment in Delaware.
LAS VEGAS — During this weekend’s Right Online conference at the Venetian Resort Hotel, a member of Christine O’Donnell’s campaign team said, “We’re putting the band together.”
Exactly who quoted that line from The Blues Brothers, I’m not at liberty to divulge. Our meeting in the lobby bar was strictly off-the-record and I didn’t take notes. For all I know, I might get in trouble just for quoting it, but I’ll take that gamble, because it perfectly captures the extent to which O’Donnell’s Senate campaign in Delaware is a class reunion of sorts for the aggressive team that helped turn Doug Hoffman’s upstate New York congressional race into a national crusade for conservatives. (See “Battle Cry in the North Country” from the December/January issue of The American Spectator.)
Hoffman’s campaign manager, Matt Moran, is in charge of O’Donnell’s Republican bid for Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate seat. Last month, Nevada-based New Media activists Eric Odom and Steven Foley, who heavily promoted Hoffman’s campaign on their 73Wire.com Tea Party site, joined Team O’Donnell to organize the candidate’s online support. And just last week, O’Donnell added another Hoffman alumnus in Yates Walker, a young former 82nd Airborne paratrooper who ran the Plattsburgh regional office in New York’s sprawling 23rd District last fall.
All of which is to say that O’Donnell’s Sept. 14 Senate primary against Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware is shaping up to be the latest battle in the Republican Party’s ongoing struggle between Tea Party-backed insurgents and a GOP establishment that seems to fear its own conservative base.
As with the primary fight for the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial nomination that turned Nikki Haley into an overnight political superstar, conservatives in Delaware have the benefit of backing an indisputably telegenic candidate. O’Donnell, a 40-year-old communications consultant who worked for the Republican National Committee during the glory days of Haley Barbour’s chairmanship in the mid-1990s, has the kind of 100-watt smile that lights up a room. But she’s not just a pretty face, either, having demonstrated her gritty determination two years ago when she sold her house and invested her life’s savings in an against-all-odds challenge to Biden, who ran simultaneously for re-election to the Senate while campaigning as Barack Obama’s running mate.
Biden’s two-campaign 2008 strategy was perfectly legal under Delaware law, but it has set up a unique scenario for the 2010 cycle. The Democratic governor appointed a seat-warmer to replace Biden temporarily, and rumors were that Biden’s son, state attorney general Beau Biden, would seek to fill his father’s shoes in this year’s special election. Instead, Biden backed out and the Democrats lined up behind a relative unknown New Castle County official. Thus, whoever wins the GOP nomination has a far more promising prospect in November. Ed Morrissey of the popular Hot Air blog summarized the national importance of the Delaware race: “The winner of the general election will not take office in 2011, but immediately after Election Day. That means if a Republican can beat Democratic nominee Chris Coons, they have the ability to block any lame-duck session shenanigans by Harry Reid.”
That raises the stakes in O’Donnell’s challenge to Castle, who has already voted for the Democrats’ energy tax bill — one of the notorious “Waxman-Markey 8” House Republicans to cross the aisle last June — and could be expected to do so again in the lame-duck session. O’Donnell is hammering hard on that issue, warning that Castle’s second vote for the cap-and-trade measure “would kill jobs and drive up prices on everything from peanuts to gasoline.”
O’Donnell is also pushing back against the GOP establishment’s message that only Castle can defeat Coons in November and that therefore conservatives should hold their noses and support a liberal RINO (Republican In Name Only). The establishment’s argument, however, started taking on water two weeks ago when a poll by Rasmussen Reports showed O’Donnell also narrowly edging Coons in a general election matchup. The same poll also indicated that Castle’s previously commanding lead over Coons has begun slipping, and that Castle’s total support had fallen below 50 percent for the first time.
While Castle seems to be fading, O’Donnell has gained new momentum in recent weeks. Although she can’t hope to match Castle’s $3 million campaign war chest, her online donations surged in the final days of June after she was interviewed on Mark Levin’s nationally syndicated talk-radio program. Her weekend trip to Vegas also boosted her online presence, as she met with scores of conservative bloggers and activists at the Right Online conference, including First Things “Gateway Pundit” blogger Jim Hoft, who asked, “Is Conservative Christine O’Donnell of Delaware the Next Nikki Haley?”
The person who may hold the key to answering that question wasn’t in Vegas this weekend, but is now definitely in the minds of O’Donnell’s supporters and enemies alike. It was an endorsement from Sarah Palin that rocketed Haley into the national spotlight and, as one commenter observed Monday on the Delaware Liberal blog, if O’Donnell and her team can secure Palin’s blessing, “all bets are off.”
Oddsmakers at the famous casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard might disagree. With seven weeks left to go in the GOP primary campaign, the odds against an O’Donnell upset victory over Castle may be difficult to calculate, but not impossible. Nothing is truly impossible in this kind of wildly unpredictable political year.
About the Author
Robert Stacy McCain is co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party (Nelson Current). He blogs at The Other McCain.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (53) | Leave a comment
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Mel Torme| 7.27.10 @ 7:00AM
RSM, did that campaign team member also say to her husband "Hey, I've got two honkies here - one of em want 4 fried chickens and a Coke - the other one wants just a piece of white bread"?
OK, yeah it is one of my all-time favorite movies. Carry on....
JimH| 7.27.10 @ 7:43AM
I have to ask. Is she on a mission from God?
Dan Hirsch| 7.27.10 @ 9:45AM
Hopefully like the Founders were!
Deborah D | 7.27.10 @ 7:02AM
I say, you go, girl! We need these conservative women to shake up the sleepy Republican men. The women seem to get it. Hey, Republican men, we're losing our country. The Moms plan to keep the country intact for the kids. Get on board or get out of the way.
Kimberly Mathias | 7.27.10 @ 10:07AM
AMEN!
glenny| 7.27.10 @ 5:30PM
Ditteaux ! glenny in louisiana ; )
D| 7.27.10 @ 7:09AM
NO. Listen I am as solid a conservative as any, but I am right here in Wilmington, Delaware and, even if Ms. O'Donnell won this primary (which she doesn't stand a chance of doing), she would lose to her Democrat opponent, who is a a left-wing political hack who as county executive raised every tax he could as often as he could. The last thing we need is another Democrat in the Senate, especially this kind.
Mike Castle isn't perfect, but he always lets you know where he is ahead of time and he sticks to his principles. He's consistent. All my respect to Ms. O'Donnell, but a win for her would prove to be a greater loss.
R Martin| 7.27.10 @ 7:51AM
D, I'm also right here in Wilmington, DE, and I beg to differ. If you are truly a solid conservative you would be working hard to support Ms. O'Donnell, because you would know Mike Castle is a serious impediment to conservative efforts in Congress. You would also know that some significant slug of Castle's $3 million war chest comes from contributors who stand to profit from carbon trading, and Castle's bow to those contributors comes at the expense (literally) of his other constitutents who live in a state which generates 65% of its electricity from coal. Castle's support for Cap and Trade is the quintessential politician's sell-out to special interests.
Some other thoughts: Republican party leadership in DE is weak and unimpressive. A professional effort from the likes of Odom and Foley could easily outflank them. Support from Palin would assure that. Coons is equally unimpressive. Picture him debating O'Donnell--he would make the Richard Nixon who debated JFK look young and vigorous. Finally, the rest of you readers who so enthusiasticly supported Scott Brown now have an even better chance to get behind a real conservative. C'mon, D, join us.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 7.27.10 @ 8:17AM
I don't have to wait for Palin to endorse Christine O'Donnell's campaign, you (and this article) just pushed me over the line. So I just added O'Donnell as my 20th Candidate for this year's Elections. I just got off her site, having sent her $100 for her long-shot campaign. I guess I'm not going out to dinner, or playing Golf this weekend, but oh well, maybe next weekend. If "We" don't take back the House and Senate this year, our money ain't going to be worth sh*t by the end of this Administration anyway. So I might as well spend it today, before it's too late. And anyway, I suck at Golf (always have), so I'm really not going to be missing out on anything anyway!! The RINO's are running scared!!
D| 7.27.10 @ 8:21AM
I am not enamored of Castle, but do you really see O'Donnell beating him in any county in Delaware? Do you really see NewCastle County voters preferring her over Chris Coons? There's got to be some critical mass.
R Martin| 7.27.10 @ 8:45AM
Yes and yes. That's what campaigns are for. Again, think back to Masssachusetts: 3-1 Democrat registration advantage over Republicans (it's 2.5-1 in DE), Coakley led early by 30% and Obama won the state by 26%. It can be done. I would argue that part of Scott Brown's success was that he was an attractive candidate. The same argument can be made for O'Donnell.
Anthony| 7.27.10 @ 9:49AM
R. Martin summed it up nicely; Republican party leadership is weak in DE. Yes, well, it's weak everywhere.
Forget the R establishment, go directly to Ms. O'Donnell's campaign, and let's us rid ourselves of leftists and RINOs in the same election.
Majito | 7.27.10 @ 8:09AM
am i the only one tired of folks like d who act like oracles invested with divinity foretelling future events? yo d, what are the powerball numbers for next week while you're in one of your esoteric trips into the future...what makes O'Donnell win can'g be gauged by looking at tea leaves...the feeling is deep in citizens gut that are at the edge of grabbing some weapon and marching up to congress/wh to take these clowns out back and do what folks did back in 1776...threw out tyrants by force...we're almost at that point and the scarcity of ammo all over the nation is a silent testament that citizens are not taking their 2nd amendment for granted...she does not stand a chance? your 'spiritual guides' are leading you astray baby
Dan Hirsch| 7.27.10 @ 9:50AM
Ronald Reagan lost a close primary fight in 1976 - he showed his mettle in losing, then working for the primary winner who lost (Imagine, the Gipper working for Jerry Ford! It was painful at times.),
Work for your candidate, then work for the winner. Whatever happens, their behavior will tell you who they are.
There is always another election. We hope.
Nolite conculare me.
Doug| 7.27.10 @ 10:49AM
NO! better to let the Dem win a Dem controlled state than have another RINO. We have to end the Republican's putting up their version of Democrats. That will mean using up Republican money in campaigns until they get the picture. The Newt way is not good. It may serve us tactically, but strategically we won't change anything. Bet the farm on the conservative, play to win if you want to win!
Dan Hirsch| 7.27.10 @ 6:29PM
So we're better off under Socialist Obama than centrist RINO McCain? Ask the newly unemployed! As bad as McCain would have been, we wouldn't be looking at a wise Latina and an avowed US military hater on the Supreme Court. Do you really think even a RINO like McCain would have signed that hopeless health care law? Would his Justice Department have tolerated the dismissal of a blatant voter intimidation case like the New Black Panthers? Would he have hired Van Jones?
Get real. A LOSS is a LOSS.
Fight for your candidate in the primary, then close ranks with your nominee, and beat the snot out of the socialist, I mean Democrat.
Sheesh!
NJK| 7.29.10 @ 6:04PM
Mike Castle voted for Cap and Tax, and was the co-author of the attack on free speech, the Disclose Act. He needs to be defeated. Better to have a Democrat/Marxist, then someone parading around as a Republican, who in reality is a marxist. Mike Castle is a menace.
Richard Baker| 7.27.10 @ 7:30AM
That's it. Let's elect another guy with the "backbone of a chocolate eclair", borrowing TR's quote about McKinley. It appears that the women have the steel in their backbones.
ds80| 7.27.10 @ 7:36AM
What was it that Thomas Jefferson said? Oh, right:
"King George isn't perfect, but at least he sticks to his principles. Yes, no revolution for me."
Get on board, D, or get out of the way. Patriots are taking back our country.
D| 7.27.10 @ 8:15AM
Oh, for heaven's sake, grow up. I'm anti-American for merely pointing out that Castle is consistent even if he isn't always conservative?
Dan Hirsch| 7.27.10 @ 9:53AM
D, ds80;
Brothers and sisters! You are on the same team with the same vision! Keep your perspective: one of these may be better than the other, but probably by degrees, not continents. Fight an honest, thoughtful primary, then everybody work for the winner to defeat the socialist Democrat.
ds80| 7.27.10 @ 1:07PM
Not implying you are anti-American. So for heaven's sake, grow up and stop taking offense where there is none.
The point is to replace the consistently not-always-conservative Castle, and not acquiesce like an emasculated ninny to "RINO is as good as we'll get".
Mike Castle "R", DE): The Pyrrhic Candidate.
Jason| 7.27.10 @ 8:40AM
Christine is already winning in Kent and Sussex counties against liberal Mike Castle. New Castle is waking up quickly and realizing that Castle may just be the dead weight around Delaware's neck.
Christine's star is rising. The July 15th Rasmussen proves Christine can win this seat versus Democrat Chris Coons. Let's unite her and make that happen.
We all know Castle has disappointed us, and he will do it again. Let's not make continual mistakes by sending him back to DC to do more damage.
T.L. Davis | 7.27.10 @ 8:43AM
"D" the problem is, I am here in Colorado and hear the same arguments made against every tea party associated candidate: They can't win, you have to stay with the establishment candidate. The tactic is: Be Safe!
If we wanted the same old blood doing the same old things in the Republican party there would be no Tea Party Movement. The more TP candidates make it office, the more things will change and vice-versa.
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.27.10 @ 8:58AM
D,
I certainly hear you loud and clear. May I respectfully disagree?
Oh I hear you loud and clear...any State that is so stupid as to re-elect a Joe Biden time after time may very well be hopeless.
Nevertheless, please vote for Christine in the primary. At least paint the difference in bold colors between stupidity and principle. Lookit, even a strong showing by Christine will make Castle bend with the wind.
Wish you stupids the best up there.
R Martin| 7.27.10 @ 9:24AM
Comparing the intelligence of Delawareans who gave us Joe Biden with Texans who gave us Lyndon Johnson is probably an effort in futility. What we're trying to do now in Delaware, perhaps with D's support, is correct our past mistakes.
Dan Hirsch| 7.27.10 @ 9:56AM
There's an old book that says, 'Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.' Everyone, rocks on the ground!
Especially since I'm from Illinois. Gulp!
Hey, what about Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan? One came from Illinois and one was born and raised here. C'mon!
Nolite conculare me!
D| 7.27.10 @ 10:23AM
I'm a native Michigander; I've lived in Delaware for the past 20 years. Not alot to brag about in either place.
Maybe, because where I live I am surrounded by both rich white liberals and alot of government employees, I am underestimating O'Donnell's presence. But I just do not see the Biden/liberal establishment letting that Senate seat go to her. Joe Biden will be out here in full campaign mode for Chris Coons, and who knows who else he'll drag here?
Sarah Palin said she would endorse "candidates who can win." In my view, which doesn't seem to be very popular here, O'Donnell is not at the same level as Scott Brown or Nikki Haley. Don't scream at me, please.
Anna B| 7.27.10 @ 11:41AM
I think you overestimate the power of Joe Biden. The tide has turned, D. I'm a registered R - newly minted from being an I for 20+ years in NYS. I'm going with tea party supported candidates to prove a point to the establishment R's - regardless if the conservative has a chance or not. Primaries are for principles.
doktorhawk| 7.27.10 @ 11:47AM
Everyone - back off of D - she'll come around after the primary. Better late than never. We all had great expectations up here in MA for Scott Brown - it was a pyrric victory! We'll never know how he would have voted on HC because he didn't get the chance. He has been nothing but a disappointment to us with every other vote that he has cast - we feel betrayed. He is a kissing cousin to the Dems and a snivelling RINO like Snowe and Collins. Fool us once, shame on you! Try to fool us again, and you are out on the street.
Compromise is unacceptable. Give me Ryan, Cantor and McCarthy. I would be happier if the RINOs would just be honest and put a D after their names.
I'm putting my $$ where my mouth is and I'm supporting O'Donnell. Come on in - the water is just fine!
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.27.10 @ 12:48PM
R, Martin
(Smile)...point taken. LBJ is one of our most embarrasing ever.
We learned better from him though. Hope you guys have learned.
DelawareReaganGal| 7.27.10 @ 9:22AM
Mike Castle is our little Delaware version of Arlen Specter. Time to go, Mike. He touts himself as "an independent voice for Delaware." Translation: "I'm a RINO and I'm here to do what I think's best for the ignorant masses."
Shameless Opinion | 7.27.10 @ 9:44AM
I've been on Castle for a while. You can see some of the fun things I've done comparing him to his relative Ben Franklin shamelessopinion.blogspot.com
victoria_29| 7.27.10 @ 10:00AM
From all I can see & hear (which considering we have Castle's voting record to look at is a lot) that Castle is a RINO. Look at the damage these RINOS are doing to our country. The other day on twitter I made the comment maybe all Congressmen & male Senators needed to swap places with their wives & let them vote since it is ONLY the women that seem to have guts to stand up to the Democrat agenda.
Several on here admit that Castle will vote for Tax & Crap AGAIN....pardon me OUR country can NOT afford for this to pass. A lot of us feel betrayed, used & mislead by supporting Scott Brown-it was people all over the country that gave time, money & energy to get him elected & he hasn't exactly stopped anything of the Democrats. But we can't give up because of it. Look at NJ they elected a Conservative (not RINO) Gov Christie. Your right everyone knows what Castle is-another Lindsey Graham Republican-that is like a spineless jellyfish.
DEConservative(EvanQ) | 7.27.10 @ 11:21AM
D.
I would like to cordially invite you and any others in or around Delaware to attend a meeting tomorrow night (Wed. July 28th) at White Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Newark, DE (corner of Polly Drummond Hill Road and Kirkwood Highway). I can promise you that the Founders Values/Common Sense Communities Society meeting will open your eyes to the level of support Christine has, the importance of this election and the value that supporting her carries with it. I'm urging anyone in the area to lend us your Wed. night.
R Martin| 7.27.10 @ 12:02PM
Evan, I'll be there. D, please join me.
I'm going to attend this meeting in spite of myself. Last week I visited the website of the Delaware Republican Party and looked at their calendar of events. On the 21st there was a meeting of the Wilmington branch of the party. I attended along with four others, and we were all dismayed that no organizers showed up. The caalendar also showed a meeting last night of the Brandywine branch which I also attended. I was the only one who did so, and the door to the headquarters was locked. Hence my earlier comment about the quality of DE state Republican leadership. When I got home last night I grumbled that I would never attend another Republican event. Evan, you'll be there tomorrow, right?
RebelWithoutAPause| 7.27.10 @ 11:39AM
I just made a contribution to her campaign. Go get me. Win one for the great unwashed. Down with RINOs.
RebelWithoutAPause| 7.27.10 @ 11:41AM
Should read "Go get em."
the rifleman| 7.27.10 @ 12:08PM
Its nice to see Castle, the pinko wannabe, startingto fall apart. Go get him MRs OD.
jstwndring| 7.27.10 @ 5:49PM
The TeaParty is what will save our country not only from the Dems, but, even more importantly, from the phonies in the Republican Party! Once real Republicans control the party again, we can set our sights on actually reducing the size of the government. Slash and burn baby! No more compromising with the enemy in our midst.
DrTomVoter| 7.27.10 @ 7:52PM
If Christine wins, does Castle "pull a Crist?" Seems to be the RINO modus operandi. If I don't or can't win, I'm going to get even by making you lose. Career politicians - pathetic.
RCV| 7.28.10 @ 4:44PM
Except that Crist IS likely to win.
Dogmeat| 7.27.10 @ 10:43PM
It was the Tea Party who claimed that they got Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown elected and that he was one of them. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Tea Party for electing Scott Brown since he voted for the Financial Reform Bill and help the President of the United States with another legislative victory, thank you Tea Party. Have you heard of “Unintended Consequences” or “Blowback”? Was he working for the Tea Party, himself or our Country, hmmm only you can answer this one?
The problem is this. Tea Party candidates will win a number of these congressional races because local districts are often safely partisan in nature. They can make their wild, unfounded claims, crazy accusations, etc., and win. That means not only are we likely to see an increase in Republican seats in both houses, we’re likely to see more antics, more insanity, more stupidity. At the same time they’re going to do everything they can to derail Obama’s policies which will likely mean high unemployment, a moribund economy, and more compromises on policy positions that make no one happy.
That could literally mean that if the Republicans put up a legitimate candidate in 2012, they could win. Such a result is bad enough, but the likely response for the Democrats is to move further to the “middle” to placate voters. As we’ve seen over the last decade, the “middle” in American politics is basically on the verge of being an 80s Republican. Increasingly that means we’ll have a political landscape of a conservative party and ratfuck insane parties. The former, given it’s track record, slowly moving to the right, the latter, given it’s track record, loudly screaming “socialism, communism, fascism!!!”
If we continue on this course, privatization will be socialism.
Nick| 7.28.10 @ 12:25AM
I saw Castle on the House floor, a couple of years ago, promoting the myth of "peak oil."
He is either a moron, for not knowing science, or he is a crook, on the dole of the tree-hugging enviro-nazis.
Nick| 7.28.10 @ 12:27AM
Oh, and Scott Brown is a hundred times better than the Swimmer Kennedy. It is Tax-achusettes, after all.
Long Ben| 7.28.10 @ 12:41AM
Another pulchritudinous Republican candidate Shazzam ! The Lord bless her if shes pro life , liberty and pursuit of happiness
Bheld| 7.28.10 @ 6:15AM
Definition of insanity: Keep doin' the same ol' thing over and over again and expecting different results each time. These RINOs have got to go. My check is in the mail to O'Donnell and I am from OK.
David| 7.28.10 @ 3:12PM
I am loving the enthusiasm for conservatives that we are seeing. Bye bye RINOS.
David| 7.28.10 @ 3:13PM
I am loving the enthusiasm for conservatives that we are seeing. Bye bye RINOS.
rwd| 8.7.10 @ 3:42PM
August 6th Rasmussen:
Castle at 49%, Coons 37%.
Coons at 46%, O'Donnell 36%
The approval index has Castle at +18 and O'Donnell -4.
O'Donnell isn't even polling well with Republicans, Castle gets 81% of Republicans, O'Donnell 66%. There are 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Delaware.
By the time O'Donnell's new staff is done with her campaign, she'll be polling in the twenties.