O’Donnell Poised To Nationalize Senate Primary Race With New Hires

Filed in National by on July 26, 2010

Christine O’Donnell will not be called O’Whackjob by me anymore. This blog will need to keep a clean record of the craziness that is about to descend on this campaign. If you don’t believe it, check out the credentials of the conservative goon squad she is bringing into Delaware.

The O’Donnell campaign just recently hired Yates Walker, whom you may remember from the Doug Hoffman campaign in NY-23. O’Donnell’s campaign manager is Matt Moran, who filled the same role for Hoffman, and their e-campaign team is Eric Odom and Steve Foley, whom I’m sure you remember from their 73Wire coverage of Hoffman.

In other words, “We’re getting the band back together,” to borrow a line from The Blues Brothers. The O’Donnell campaign is benefitting from lessons learned in the wild NY-23 campaign, which turned into a national conservative crusade in the last three weeks before the election. (See “Battle Cry in the North Country,” in the December/January American Spectator.) With seven weeks remaining until the Sept. 10 primary, O’Donnell seems to be very near a point of breaking through at the national level that Hoffman didn’t reach until there was less than a month to go before the election.

Oh boy.

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Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (48)

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  1. nemski says:

    Delaware Liberal should really think about endorsing O’Donnell in the Republican Primary.

  2. jason330 says:

    No. Castle. That way, this conservative mafia O’Donnell has hired could use that in O’Donnell ads.

  3. anon says:

    Don’t these morons know they will NOT get paid.

  4. a.price says:

    I’m ready to get my faux teabag gear together and go rally for crazy christine.
    how bout a sign that says “castle = obama republican”
    he has voted with obama ONE PERCENT OF THE TIME!!! impure!

  5. RSmitty says:

    Probably explains the twitter explosion and trolling of the follower/following lists of other delaware bloggers. Only way that can explain people on my and other friends’ list who can’t stand politics that are suddenly being followed by them. Told my friends to block.

  6. jason330 says:

    “Don’t these morons know they will NOT get paid.” They run on bile and onion skins. So they are probably doing it to climb the next rung on the wingnut welfare ladder.

  7. jason330 says:

    Castle’s problem is that he has given liberals over the year just enough for them to build a credible insurgent’s type campaign. His gun control votes and jihad against frozen stem cell Americans gets O’Donnell two groups of single issue voters right there.

    We’ll be able to know the precise moment when Castle gets scared because Celia will put up a column within 24 hours of being instructed to write about how “outsiders” don’t work in Delaware politics.

  8. liberalgeek says:

    Yeah, there was a minor uproar in the twitterverse this weekend. Some of the aforementioned started spamming a hashtag that the local Twitter community has been using to build Delaware’s small business/local events scene. Some of the offenders were Jason O’Neil and Evan Quietch as well as a guy I’d never heard of from New Castle. When they got pushback from the community for the political ramblings of the deranged in the #NetDE zone, they started complaining that it was just a bunch of liberals.

    I’ll point out, at this point of the story, that two of the guys most involved in this #NetDE are Dave Burris (former Sussex County Republican Chair) and Ken Grant (Former Communications Director for the Delaware Republican Party).

    Of course, they are getting a lot of help in defacing the #NetDE hashtag from some of their fellow conservathugs.

  9. nemski says:

    @a. price: The only problem with your signage is that is spelled correctly.

  10. Mike Matthews says:

    This is really going to be a fascinating seven weeks. Really. Really. Fascinating.

  11. nemski says:

    @ liberalgeek: Ken Grant and Dave Burris are the worst kind of Republicans – not conservative enough!

  12. anon says:

    So when is Christine showing up at the firing range for her video shoot?

  13. jason330 says:

    I wonder if any of these guys has juice with Palin? If they pull in that endorsement, all bets are off.

  14. RSmitty says:

    Geek – your closing line reads like you are tying the attacks to the guilt of Grant and Burris. I’m going to assume that is not your intent, as they are not seeking help in defacing that hashtag, let alone wanting it to be defaced at all. They, like anyone else opposed to those campaigns, are just as much in the same target area. Lastly, those two are about as far away from those campaigns as I am.

  15. liberalgeek says:

    Ah, yes, I was pointing out that the clueless losers are so clueless that they have no idea who they are calling a bunch of liberals.

  16. jason330 says:

    “Battle Cry in The North Country” is a good look at the Yates Walker playbook.

    Moderate Republicans who laugh these guys off will be sorry.

  17. Brooke says:

    “Don’t these morons know they will NOT get paid.” They run on bile and onion skins. So they are probably doing it to climb the next rung on the wingnut welfare ladder.

    exactly. Opportunity to work on a “national campaign” against Stem Cell Mike? They’ll pay to get in. Gonna be a long hot summer. TRB, if you don’t remember.

  18. jason330 says:

    Reading about the NY-23 race, I believe these guys will get paid, and paid well, if they can make Mike Castle the focus of national wingnut anger.

  19. nemski says:

    So, O’Donnell hires a guy who managed to lose a historically Republican district. Awesome.

  20. flutecake says:

    Is this #netDE confusion a basic “if you’re in business you MUST be a Republican” issue? Maybe these guys are just that stupid.

    Well, I’m outing myself as a LIBERAL and in business. I belong to my local Chamber of Commerce, who sold my email to the US Chamber of Commerce, who are thugs rejoicing over the Citizens United decision so that can pour money into destroying democracy. I have unsubscribed from their emails and it really galls me that some of my money for the local organization goes upstream to those bastards. I do derive a local networking benefit that justifies the expense but I guess I should consider my options for 2011, huh?

    Times are tough, I am still in business, for now. I do what I can for progressive causes, though.

  21. jason330 says:

    He came from 9% two weeks out and would have won if the other Republican didn’t drop out days before the election and endorse the Democrat.

    Maybe they can’t catch lightning in a bottle again, but if they do, it is Castle’s ass.

  22. nemski says:

    A loss is a loss, Jason330. Or are you channleing Andy Reid right now?

  23. mediawatch says:

    If Christine’s Crazies can crush Castle, they’ll roll over Rollins in the process.
    Hard to see that happening, but if it does, Coons and Carney will be breathing about as hard as Beau as Nov. 2 approaches.

  24. Jason330 says:

    I hope Castle is channeling Nemski.

  25. Taking Mediawatch’s idea a step further, I think that Urquhart will really benefit from this. This will drive out the crazies and, while I don’t think there’s any way they’ll knock off Castle, Rollins HAS no base, and she is deinitely vulnerable.

    BTW, did anyone catch Celia’s one-line ‘analysis’ calling the Carney-Rollins race a ‘toss-up’?

    Memo to Celia: People outside the 19807 zip code ALSO vote.

  26. rh says:

    bet Castle and Rollins wish they had the party affiliation switches back from 2008 the Gov’s race…wonder how many bothered to switch back…if they are primary voters you know that they would be in the Castle & Rollins camps

  27. Rebecca says:

    They will NOT get paid. Hah! There’s a conservative think tank out there somewhere printing up desk name plates for these guys. They’ll get paid. Just not by Christine.

  28. anon says:

    I’m beginning more and more to think that we’re going to see a teabagger upset here in the good ol’ First State come September. It’s going to be a blast.

    The Democrats ought to be funneling donations to Glen and Christine instead of giving to Carney and Coons right now.

  29. jason330 says:

    A Flurry of wingnut blog activity is centered on Castle, his RINO-hood and this Senate election’s ability to change the course of the Obama Presidency…nay….the course of human events.

    The wingnut-o-sphere is buzzing over the lame duck session that will be seated after the election but before the swearing in of the hundreds of conservatives they expect to elect.

    …there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December they don’t want to defend before November. Retiring or defeated members of Congress would then be able to vote for sweeping legislation without any fear of voter retaliation.

    Obama will “muscle through bills in December” riiiiiiiiight. Anyway, they way the national wingnutery can frustrate this plan is to help Christine O’Donnell.

    The U.S. Senate will provide Democrats with a solid opportunity because Scott Brown, the Republican who is now acting and voting like a Democrat, will likely help them pass some of these bad laws in a lame duck session.

    (However) Because the election to replace Joe Biden is a special election, the winner would be immediately seated. You see what I’m getting at?

    Liberal Republican Mike Castle is literally the most far left Republican in Congress right now. The laws he’s passed are staggering when it comes to direct violations of his oath to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.

    Not only does Mike Castle carry water for the far left Obama administration (his recent votes in support of FinReg and Cap-and-trade are perfect examples), Castle co-authored the potentially disastrous “Grassroots Gag Order,” or Disclose Act that would possibly hit the Senate for a vote in the lame duck. This means that Mike Castle would be able to vote on these laws twice. And we already know how he’ll vote.

    So you see, Mike Castle would almost certainly vote WITH the Democrats and join their efforts to force bad laws upon the American people in a lame duck session.

    The movement has hope, however, in that tea party Candidate Christine O’Donnell is now surging in the Republican Primary race and Mike Castle is slipping significantly. Christine O’Donnel would, without a doubt, strongly oppose and vote against these bad laws and she would stand tall with the American people in the process.

    According to a recent Rasmussen Poll, both Christine O’Donnell and Mike Castle would beat Democrat Chris Coons in the general elect.

    That Rassy poll might have been the best thing to ever happen to Coons.

  30. nemski says:

    El Som, quick correction. Rollins has a base, it just happens to be in Jamaica.

  31. anonone says:

    Rollins has a bigger base than Christine, though Christine’s is growing.

  32. anonone says:

    I’d like to just remind people that Palin’s election to the governorship was not thought possible until, well, she won. While I appreciate the strategy of thinking that Christine couldn’t possibly get elected statewide if nominated, one should also realize that anything can happen in a two person race.

    In my opinion, the farther away from elected office that we can keep wingnut extremists like Christine, the better.

  33. I knew all of this was coming. She had the Hoffman team connections for awhile and brought them in. I do not know who will win the race, but it is going to be very interesting. I guess this is a retraction of all of that nonsense that she can’t win and we are crazy for acting like it.

  34. jason330 says:

    A good and timely reminder Anonone. Gore wanted to face Bush instead of McCain, because Bush was unelectable. Perhaps DL really should endorse Castle?

    David, consider all of that retracted.

  35. Heh, after I did a series of tweets about this I got replies from Eric Odom and Steven Foley. Nothing from DEConservative yet.

  36. jason330 says:

    No doubt flattered to be considered a goon squad.

  37. Geezer says:

    The wingnuts haven’t had stiffies like this since they thought Sarah Palin was winking just at them!

  38. Christine O’Donnell gives wingnuts *starbursts*

  39. Jason330 says:

    http://twitpic.com/photos/TomKovach

    That picture taken this afternoon is proof that team Castle is now in DEFCON 5 according to the wingnut blog that is currently the biggest national O’Donnell booster.

  40. missundaztood says:

    So O’Donnell hired two more nut jobs to add to her collection. Yates walker worked Rick Barbers campaign that came out with this winner:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iQ7ZDUutU4

    Rick Barber lost to the “establishment” republican. And Doug Hoffman? He lost, too. These two guys will fit in with O’Donnell’s collection of losers from Protack’s camp nicely.

  41. jason330 says:

    I see the problem. That Barber ad is clearly targeted to 8 year old voters.

  42. Politico is writing about the race now. Politico is saying that the Concerned Women of America PAC is going to announce their support this week and the National Right to Work may endorse. The Club for Growth is staying out. The best part of the article is the DE GOP reaction:

    A Castle campaign spokeswoman did not return a request for comment.

    Delaware’s state GOP chairman dismissed O’Donnell as a perennial candidate overburdened with baggage who is completely unelectable.

    “She has debts she hasn’t paid from the last race. She sold her house that was in foreclosure so she could run for Senate. She has a long history of not paying bills. She sued a conservative think tank that dismissed her. She’s a candidate who runs for office that unfortunately lives off the proceeds. You just don’t have a candidate in Christine O’Donnell that is considered credible. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a candidate with such a paper trail,” said state party chair Tom Ross.

    What does it say if the Club for Growth will back crazy Sharron Angle but not crazy Christine O’Donnell?

  43. You guys should really consider endorsing Mike Castle. Period. He votes more reliably Democrat than most lunatic libs.

  44. anonone says:

    You know, from a purely entertainment perspective, I am happy that we have our own homegrown Sarah Palin. Too bad she doesn’t have a screwed up family as a supporting cast.

  45. Geezer says:

    Of course, the downside to all this will be the visits from undocumented denizens of Wingnutia.