Does Castle Understand The Tea Party?

Filed in National by on September 7, 2010

Reporters were all over the state yesterday covering the Castle-O’Donnell race. Dave Weigel, from Slate covered some campaign events and got some comments from Mike Castle.

There’s something almost quaint about this faith in the local media, especially when O’Donnell’s supporters are asked about the same stories. They, like many members of the Tea Party movement, don’t think that information in newspapers is definitive; it may even be inferior to what they hear from their friends or from talk radio. This is one of many reasons why Castle gets along with these activists the way a negotiator might deal with a hostage-taker.

“Some of the things they seem to advocate go beyond the norm,” says Castle. “I have trouble distinguishing sometimes between the factions out there that are in this ultra-conservative mode. You know—be it the patriots, or this Tea Party Express, or the different factions of the Tea Party. I’ve seen advocacy for eliminating the Department of Education, for example.”

He’s interrupted again—”Hi, Debbie!”—but keeps musing on how Tea Party activists shout down legislation by saying it’s unconstitutional.

“There are a lot of things that the federal government does that, you know, might not be explicitly in the Constitution per se,” says Castle. “There are a lot of things that the states do, too. And they’ve been doing it in some cases since the 18th century.” He shrugs. “I do suppose it is a good question to ask.”

It doesn’t sound like Mike Castle is taking the Tea Party very seriously, and that’s a problem. They’re going to be running his party soon and perhaps at least one of the houses of Congress.

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Comments (15)

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  1. Politico has this scoop:

    A reader notes a minor chink in Castle’s armor: According to Washington, D.C., property tax records, he’s had to make modest interest and penalty payments three times on his Capitol Hill apartment, in 2005 and 2006.

    His late payments don’t really measure up to O’Donnell’s woes, however: The total in penalties is under $300.

    You know what they say about glass houses and stones.

  2. Another nugget from this article – O’Donnell met with Palin at Glenn Beck’s rally. Does this mean Palin could still endorse her?

    That’s exactly what this crowd wants to hear, and it murmurs with approval. Many of these activists went to Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington the weekend before. O’Donnell did, too, but unlike them she got to meet Sarah Palin. Her campaign team is led by Matt Moran, a veteran of Doug Hoffman’s 2009 upstart third-party campaign in New York’s 23rd congressional district. They hope that the GOP onslaught on O’Donnell won’t stop powerful conservatives from weighing in for her.

  3. Geezer says:

    You got that right — he has no clue about the Tea Party, because he’s essentially reality-based, which is why right-wingers despise him so.

  4. I’m not sure this is reality-based:

    “There are a lot of things that the federal government does that, you know, might not be explicitly in the Constitution per se,” says Castle. “There are a lot of things that the states do, too. And they’ve been doing it in some cases since the 18th century.” He shrugs. “I do suppose it is a good question to ask.”

    It’s a good question to ask? Really? It’s good to ask to overturn 200 years of U.S. governance?

  5. Geezer says:

    No, not that specifically. He’s trying not to offend these people, completely missing the point that they exist mainly to take offense. Today’s world of politics has totally passed him by.

  6. Jason330 says:

    WaPo peice on O’Donnell just posted and they snagged q great quote:” what’s so exciting and energizing about all of this is that your are not being duped,”.

    One can imagine th confused cheer that went up after that winner.

  7. Truth Teller says:

    We must all be alert for in Germany in the early 30’s a party came along and told the people exactly what they wanted to do. A lot of folks said they will never do that it’s just election time talk. But with folks like Angle and Paul they are true believers along with a few other nuts in congress we all could be in for one big surprise.”Remember when Fascism comes it will come wrapped in the flag and carrying a Bible” Sinclare Lewis said this in 1935

  8. Truth Teller says:

    Another famous quote from the 30’s that is true today and use by raido host and Repuks alike the method not the quote “The people can always be brought to the bidding of it’s leaders. You tell them they are being attacked. and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotsim and exposing the country to danger” Herman Goering

  9. Tyrone Biggums says:

    “The people can always be brought to the bidding of it’s leaders. You tell them they are being attacked. and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotsim and exposing the country to danger” Herman Goering

    This is the exact tactic that GWB and his cronies used in the run-up to the current war(s). Yet most Democrat Senators & Congressmen voted for authorizing the war. They were afraid of being seen as “weak”. They were in fact WEAK & they proved it with their votes. Our dead & maimed soldiers thank both the loony right & the spineless left for their warmongering and lack of testicles, respectively.

  10. Truth Teller says:

    Right on Tyrone

  11. Truth Teller says:

    Sinclare lewis could have been refering to the resent Beck march lots of flags and God

  12. Geezer says:

    Any chance you could switch your moniker to Truth Speller?

  13. Tyrone Biggums says:

    “Any chance you could switch your moniker to Truth Speller?
    Truth Punctuator? (it’s should have been its)

    I’m a prick when it comes to spelling, grammar & punctuation (as anyone who comments on TNJ’s site will tell you), but I’m inclined to cut TT a break. His spelling, grammar & punctuation are far better than the brightest “minds” on the right-wing websites.

    Having said that, I’m sure one of the better educated people here will dissect my sentences & point out my errors.

    Oh well. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

  14. Tyrone Biggums says:

    Please nominate me for Asshat of the day. The “it’s” I read was not written by TT and it was used correctly.

  15. PSB says:

    article in today’s Wall Street Journal, at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575478062002035590.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_news (you may need a subscription), title “Tea Party Favorite Unsettles Delaware GOP”

    Two paragraphs

    To be sure, a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday suggested voters aren’t exactly flocking to the O’Donnell campaign. Only 39% of respondents said they felt favorable toward her, compared with 67% for Mr. Castle.

    But fewer than 13,000 people voted in Delaware’s previous midterm GOP primary. With those numbers in mind, Ms. O’Donnell said she hopes to peel off just enough votes from registered Republicans to win.