The O’Donnell Challenge
I do not speak of Christine O’Donnell’s challenge to Mike Castle in the Republican Senate Primary, which by the way, she is not giving up on.
I speak of the challenge her candidacy presents for our rather rabid friends on the right who view Castle as far too liberal to be in “their” Republican Party. I speak of those here in Delaware like David Anderson and Delaware Patriot, the latter of which considers Castle to be all that is wrong with today’s Republicans, as if more social conservativism, birtherism, and deatherism will make that party more successful.
Castle’s reputation for being a “moderate” comes mostly from his pro-environment and allegedly pro-choice stances (I say allegedly here because he is rated pro-life by pro-choice groups and pro-choice by pro-life groups). Indeed, as Tommywonk points out, Castle was one of the few Republicans in the House to vote yes on Cap and Trade. Another GOP representative, Mark Kirk from Illinois, also voted yes on Cap and Trade, but then he decided to run for the Senate, and has quickly backtracked on his vote and said he would vote against it if it ever came up again in the House or in the Senate if he should be elected. He did that because he has a legitimate primary challenge, backed by the radical right in Illinois.
Back in Delaware, Mike Castle shows no fear from his right wing base, whether that is because there are just not enough of the nutjobs to make a difference, or because they are just ineffective. Thus, Mike Castle has not backed away from his yes vote on Cap and Trade. He has not been forced to by the Anderson-O’Donnell right wing.
And that is the challenge that lies at their feet. Can the right wing here in Delaware make Castle fear them?
If you were to believe our friends on the right wing during the tea party protests, the right wing is strong in Delaware.
Well, now is their chance to prove it. No, not by getting O’Donnell elected. But by getting Castle to change. It worked in Illinois. Can it work here?
Tags: Delaware
“However, and however, and however, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time”
Mike Castle can safely ignore Sussex County gap-toothed, gun loving hicks in the same way Tom Carper can ignore us hemp pants wearing, decent health care wanting hippies.
It is all branding and the Delaware media (aside from Al Mascitti) is more than willing to allow Castle to continue to thread the needle. Castle will say that while he voted for cap and trade he “has problems” with it. He will say that he does not like the idea of the Republican plans to filibuster the health care bill – but “his misgivings” will not allow him rule out taking part in a Republican filibuster.
It is his brand to be on both sides of every issue. That is what passes for judicious moderation with the empty-headed losers on the News Journal editorial board.
He needs a well funded Democratic opponent willing to call him out on all the hedging, equivocating, and “however-ing.” Someone willing to beat him mercilessly with his vacuous non-statements. That’s the part that worries me. If Carper has cleared the way – this is all moot.
I think a Cap and Tax, Abortion funding, gun grabbing, entitlement adding, pork barrelling Congressman will have a problem in the Republican Primary. Bring it on.
No, David, it is you and your brethen that have to bring it. Your opponent is not Beau Biden or the Democrats. Your opponent is Mike Castle. This is your moment.
From the perspective that I just gave what is the difference between them? Add gay marriage supporting and socialized medicine supporter to Biden. I am weary of the evil of two lessers campaigns. I want someone who is dependable and conservative. Would I support Congressman Castle in the general? 100% if he can get to it.
killing unborn bad
casualties of war good
“I think a Cap and Tax, Abortion funding, gun grabbing, entitlement adding, pork barrelling Congressman will have a problem in the Republican Primary. Bring it on.”
Go get ‘im, David. The one thing that would pretty much guarantee a Democratic victory is giving Castle a strong opponent from the right who would force him to move further to the right to win the primary. Remember, our primary is six weeks before the general. If Castle must run an anti-O’Donnell primary race, he’ll be toast by the first week of November.
I am less than thrilled by a Beau candidacy, but I only need one hand to push the buttons on the voting machine. I can hold my nose with the other.
I think a Cap and Tax, Abortion funding, gun grabbing, entitlement adding, pork barrelling Congressman will have a problem in the Republican Primary. Bring it on….Would I support Congressman Castle in the general? 100% if he can get to it.
Weeeee, but you’re going to do what you can to totally fuck up his reputation beforehand, eh? Nothing like tossing your principles into the backseat at the end (when you will inevitably vote for him).
“I think a Cap and Tax, Abortion funding, gun grabbing, entitlement adding, pork barrelling Congressman will have a problem in the Republican Primary. Bring it on.”
translation…
“Politicians who want to limit pollution by making the polluters pay, those who are for women’s rights, taking care of the poor, and taking care of underfunded areas have no place in the republican party.. especially since the new conservative bible takes out every part of Christianity that says we have to be pussies… i mean charitable and kind. PALIN 2011!!!!!!”
The difference between Castle and someone who actually supports women’s rights and the environment is someone who says they supports those things and then votes against them anyway and someone who actually consistently supports those things.
The problem I see with moderates (of both parties) is that they spend a lot of time criticizing their own party before giving in and voting with them anyway.
“Mike Castle can safely ignore Sussex County gap-toothed, gun loving hicks in the same way Tom Carper can ignore us hemp pants wearing, decent health care wanting hippies.”
And he will lose the primary, because that’s who’s going to come out and vote in a primary if O’Donnell really runs. She will be the draw to get the ultra-conservatives to the polls in an off-year primary that will feature no other notable races. He’ll have Chateau Country, and will lose big.
I think you overestimate the number of nutbags in the state. Maybe not.
My impression has always been that for every David Anderson there are two RSmitty’s. Of course, Smitty doesn’t get to vote in the primary, but I doubt that that trend has caught on. If you are relying on Smitty for trendiness, you will never get into the chic clubs.
“And he will lose the primary, because that’s who’s going to come out and vote in a primary if O’Donnell really runs.”
Don’t be silly. The nutbags are about 15,000 strong. Castle will get at least twice that number.
Shoot, I will do what most of the R’s did last time, switch parties for the Primary. Even when the lot of moderates did that to vote for Markell in the D primary, Protack STILL GOT CRUSHED in the Republican Primary that was supposedly conservative-right-far-wing heavy. O’Donnell will not beat Castle, no matter how horrible the bag-o-nuts© attempt to disparage him. Oh…book it that they will try. There is already a facebook group out there threatening to rid the DE GOP of all RINOs and to “expose” them all, whatever the eff that is supposed to mean.
Exactly Smitty. I’ll believe it when I see it. Of course, it will only take a handful of really vocal nuts to put some pressure on Castle. And since the media has decided that vocal nuts are the heart of “real America” they may get more attention than your standard vocal lefties.
Protack and O’Donnell aren’t even comparable.
He’s a repeat loser with a pornstache with no base whose only goal is to get elected to something.
She’s a very attractice woman with a locked-in constituency of farmers, conservative Christians, homeschoolers, anti-abortion activists, anti-tax folks, gun advocates, SCCOR members and more.
The key to O’Donnell’s victory will be in Sussex and Kent counties, which will come out to absolutely bury Castle. NCCo won’t be able to hold up its end.
Geezer… the thing is, ordinary Republicans won’t be coming out to vote in this primary. Castle’s basic base of “I Like Mike” moderates has nothing else to draw them to the polls this time. He’ll have the Republican party establishment in his corner, and no one else.
They are comparable. They have run against their party time and again. They both came in to the public eye in the same pro-life “get out there and get yourself elected” movement. One could argue that O’Donnell has done better, but that is only as measured by the number of times she has made the ballot in November. Neither will ever be elected to anything at their current pace.
Ironically, if they decided to run for lower office (like state rep) they might have a chance to start a career, rather than get their name on the ballot and hope their opponent dies.
As for O’Donnell’s attractiveness, I have never seen her. Her best bet might be to take the KWS route and use an old picture if the Mike Matthews description of her in the last election cycle is accurate.
What’s the first attribute O’Donnell’s most recent #1 supporter spoke of?
She’s a very attractice woman…
I guess that’s what she’s going to run on this time, after the last two flame outs?
yeah, yeah, forget all the policy stuff, she’s a very attractive woman.
O’Donnell: Attractive female. Castle: Not-so-attractive male. Vote.
Shaping up to be one hell of a barn burner. Whoops, that was not intended to be any reference to all those farmers coming out in droves in support of her.
Smitty, it would not violate my principles to vote for the better of two candidates. It would violate my principles to vote for the worse of two candidates. If the election is between Congressman Castle and most of the people the current Democrat party will put up, it is only sensible to support him. He will only be in 4 years–10 at most. I would rather have 4 years of Mike Castle than 34 years of Biden or Denn. If I had my way, I would run Christine for an at large spot for Wilmington City Council and be in a building pattern for 4 years down the road. Other people who are in the party seem ready to move so I think she is making the wise decision. I am just a little more conservative in my strategy. I don’t control the picture so I have a choice. Support the best candidate or the second best. I choose the best.
I will make sure that I respect the Congressman’s service and insure he has some uncensored opportunities to communicate. Ms. O’Donnell will also have those opportunities. I am confident in who will come out better. She takes a confident stand and sticks with it. Her style of leadership better fits the mood of times.
O’Donnell on Wilmington City Council? What are you smoking, David? Thanks for the laugh.
Where are the last two flame outs? She smashed the record for a write in campaign approaching half of the Republican candidate in some districts. It was not even a long planned, well funded campaign. It was sort of a draft. The one real campaign was against a sitting senator who was running for VP. No one wins those. She ran the best of anyone in that position in the last 100 years. She actually did as well as Jane Brady in her race against Biden and other better known Republicans on the ballot with Ms. O’Donnell.
Pandora, she would win one of the Republican at large seats hands down if she ran.
Not in Wilmington, she couldn’t. Full stop.
Her style of leadership better fits the mood of times.
Only if you are trying to install the American Taliban, which, fortunately, these times aren’t going to tolerate.
There aren’t many Republicans who did worse than her against Biden in the past and I credit that to the general repulsion many DE R’s have against Biden and nothing else. I think even the good Captain (not pilot) would have had that same number if he made it to the General against Biden.
The flameout prior? Why did she even need to have that write-in campaign to begin with?
PRIMARY 2006:
CHRISTINE O’DONNELL 2505 17 . 4 %
MICHAEL D. PROTACK 5771 40 . 1 %
JAN TING 6110 42 . 5 %
Understand protest-support when you see it. Yes, O’Donnell has supporters, I know that and accept that, but all those numbers you claim from the general election does not add up to only supporters. You’ve been around this dance long enough to know people don’t always vote FOR someone, but vote AGAINST someone else. There were A LOT of Republicans who were vehemently anti-Ting that sure to hell weren’t going to vote for Carper (or Morris).
If you really want her to have a chance, you have your work cut out for you. Stop relying on “atta-boys” and praises built within blind allegiances. Each of those can only vote once.
I wonder if she could get Bachmann or maybe even Palin to pitch in for her (if her candidacy looks legitimate enough)? But I doubt they’d stick their necks out for an obvious loser. However, they do seem to share a mind, although I’m not sure who has it right now. (Sorry, old joke.)
Just to clear my anonymous name… for the record, RSmitty, I’m not an O’Donnell supporter, nor do I think that her looks are her biggest advantage. I was trying to draw an implicit comparison, using a technique that I think my English professor called parallel sentence construction, between her hawtness and Protack’s ‘stache. That’s all.
And I really did mean to write attractive, not attractice. Just call me Jason Jr.
O’Donnell won the GOP nomination at the 2008 Convention because of New Castle County, not Sussex. Sussex County’s delegates went for Tim Smith, a Sussex businessman.
Actually, the highest percentage of votes came from Kent County for O’Donnell of all of the 7 Republican regions. missandaztood needs to do some homework.
O’Donnell doesn’t stand a chance. If anything the GOP will use the primary as a way to rally the troops and raise funds for Castle, get his name in the papers, and generate hype.
This conversation is the exact reason she is not stepping down.
She is a GOP shill every step of the way and will lay down her arms when told to.
In between clients so here goes.
As ACORN is a criminal enterprise for the democrats as is the delaware GOP for Mike Castle. Most know it is a sad day for the GOP who will live in darkness for four more years.
As many of us joined the political arena this year we saw a few things and asked a lot of questions. The first reality is to start a career within the GOP means you have to sell out to get ahead. No Thanks.
We looked at a lot of people and events. We saw O’Donnell and saw an opportunist and a bit of shill for no one but herself. Copeland looked good but got hurt bad by the Denn loss and the duPont name. Protack lost big to Lee but would have won in 2006 if not for O’Donnell. (The pro life people said Protack was not good enough for them).
As we put together our rallies and other things Copeland seemed solid , we like his views and principles. Protack was helpful but we have a problem with his union affiliation and desire for Universal Health Care. ODonnell, never mind. I hope they will comment here but I am pretty sure you have banned them.
The GOP in Delaware is kaput.
Dear Delaware Patriot:
When you write “ACORN is a criminal enterprise”, everyone stops reading. Have a good day sir.
– nemski
I actually did stop reading his post after that.
ACORN is on the right track with the voice it provides to the under-represented. The thing is, ACORN is rooted in urban politics which unfortunately attracts a lot of hustlers and racial politics. However this is no more endemic than the suburban hustlers and bigots that are well represented in the corporate world.
If ACORN is a criminal enterprise… what does that make Halliburton? Goldman Sachs? BofA?