“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” exclaimed Al
Michaels in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Michaels was jubilant because
the underdog American hockey team had just defeated the heavily
favored squad from the Soviet Union.
Conservative supporters of Christine O’Donnell feel much
the same way tonight. After all, O’Donnell was subjected to the
most vicious and nasty ad hominem attacks by the conservative
Beltway elite and GOP old guard, who found her candidacy
terrifying. And so they went into overdrive to demean, discredit
and defeat her.
Indeed, they launched a full-scale frontal assault on her
character and did everything they could to convince voters that she
was some strange alien creature who could not be trusted with the
reins of political power. But the voters rejected the politics of
fear and personal destruction. They said no to the conservative
Beltway elite and GOP old guard. And, in so doing, they signaled
serious generational change on the Right and within the Republican
Party.
It’s about time. For too long, conservative and Republican
voters have been sheep for the party establishment. Thus they
nominated loser candidates like Bob Dole and John McCain — stodgy
old men of the mushy middle. We had to do this, we were told,
because these were “pragmatic” candidates who could
“win.”
Only they didn’t. They lost, and by a considerable margin.
Delaware’s GOP voters finally had enough of this; and tonight, they
revolted. And their shot was heard ‘round the political
world.
The voters know what the conservative Beltway elite and
GOP old guard refuse to acknowledge: that O’Donnell is a stellar
person who’s experienced life’s ups and downs and emerged all the
better because of it; that she is bright and articulate and shares
their values; and that she will vote to check one-party rule in
Washington.
Can O’Donnell win the general election? Absolutely. Many
of the same people who say she’s unelectable said the same thing
about Barack Obama in 2008. But Americans are a lot more forward
thinking than our political “betters” realize.
But what about the conservative Beltway elite and GOP old
guard? For years they’ve been lecturing the rank and file about the
need for party unity and uniting behind primary winners. Well, now
they have the chance to walk the walk and not just talk the
talk.
So, will they actively support Delaware’s duly elected GOP
Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell? Will they now unite the
party behind her? Will the big-money donors and contributors open
up their checkbooks on her behalf?
We’re about to find out. Unfortunately, the early signs
don’t look promising. Fox News, for instance, is reporting that the
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) says it will not
give O’Donnell a dime. And Karl Rove went on Fox to trash O’Donnell
just after she had won the party primary.
But party loyalty is a two-way street. You can’t expect
voters to be loyal to you and your preferred candidates if you
aren’t willing to reciprocate.
Yet, for too long, the conservative Beltway elite and GOP
old guard have had a sense of entitlement. They’ve demanded loyalty
while refusing to return the favor. Delaware voters finally had
enough; and tonight they said so. And, with a lot of hard work,
fair seas and good luck, they’ll put Christine O’Donnell in the
United States Senate come November.
Do you believe in miracles? Absolutely.
