Frank Rich On Christine O’Donnell – “Useful Idiot”

Frank Rich has a great column on Christine O’Donnell in yesterday’s New York Times – “The Very Useful Idiocy of Christine O’Donnell.”

Yet those laughing now may not have the last laugh in November. O’Donnell’s timely ascent in the election season’s final lap may well prove a godsend for the G.O.P.

…

Rove’s flip-flop was no doubt hastened by his own cohort’s assaults on both his ideological purity and masculinity. The blogger Michelle Malkin labeled him an “effete sore loser,” and Sarah Palin publicly instructed him to “buck up.” But surely the larger motive for his retreat was the dawning recognition of just how valuable O’Donnell is to the G.O.P.’s national aspirations in November — even should she ultimately lose her own race in blue Delaware. Whatever her other talents, she’s more than willing to play the role of useful idiot for her party. She gives populist cover to the billionaires and corporate interests that have been steadily annexing the Tea Party movement and busily plotting to cash in their chips if the G.O.P. prevails.

While O’Donnell’s résumé has proved largely fictional, one crucial biographical plotline is true: She has had trouble finding a job, holding on to a home and paying her taxes. In this, at least, she is like many Americans in the Great Recession, including the angry claque that found its voice in the Tea Party. For a G.O.P. that is even more in thrall to big money than the Democrats, she couldn’t be a more perfect decoy.

By latching on to O’Donnell’s growing presence, the Rove-Boehner-McConnell establishment can claim it represents struggling middle-class Tea Partiers rather than Wall Street potentates and corporate titans. O’Donnell’s value is the same as that other useful idiot, Michael Steele, who remains at the Republican National Committee only because he can wave the banner of “diversity” over a virtually all-white party that alternately demonizes African-Americans, Latinos, gays and Muslims.

This very same issue came up yesterday in the thread about the death of the Delaware GOP. What would Christine O’Donnell do that is different than the GOP? She may be more blue collar than blue blood but the Republican party represents the interests of millionaires and billionaires. In fact, I haven’t seen any proposals by O’Donnell that would do anything to help working class voters. The one proposal I heard from her was to cut our Social Security benefits. That hurts the working class.

Frank Rich is right – Christine O’Donnell is a distraction. She’s the media’s new shiny object. It distracts the media from looking too deeply into the corporate origins and funding of the Tea Party movement. We’ll talk about O’Donnell’s “dabbling” while not talking about the Koch brothers funding.