Mike Castle Gets It — Kinda
NPR was in Wilmington to cover the Delaware Senate race and did an interview with soon-to-be former Congressman Mike Castle. In the interview Castle talked about his loss and the reasons behind it.
Later, Castle said something likely to only solidify the view of those conservatives that he’s a RINO — he should’ve directly asked Democrats and independents to vote in the GOP primary.
Obviously we should’ve focused on it and spent more time educating people. We have a closed primary here. I have a lot of support from Democrats and independents. We probably should’ve encouraged people to switch their political registrations as well.
Exactly. This has been our biggest criticism of Mike Castle. He did nothing while the Republican Party turned into the Tea Party. Not only did he fail to attract moderates to the Republican party, he failed to persuade and educate the voters left in his party. Obviously, Castle should have been reading Delaware Liberal.
Castle does come across as a party man but he also comes close to “I did not leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me.”
Castle also said he saw no place for fiscally conservative but generally moderate politicians like himself in the present-day Republican Party.
My belief is that you’re either a red-hot conservative, go by the Constitution, don’t spend anything, Republican which is, again, embodied in the Tea Party group if you will or you are a Democrat who’s generally portrayed as a big spender
I don’t know what’s going to happen in the upcoming GOP civil war (it’s coming) but I see the seeds of a 3rd party forming. What do you think? Will the moderates be welcomed back into the GOP pup tent or will they find themselves alone?
Tags: DE-Sen, Mike Castle
Shorter Castle: I thought I could tease the panther.
“Castle also said he saw no place for fiscally conservative but generally moderate politicians like himself in the present-day Republican Party.
My belief is that you’re either a red-hot conservative, go by the Constitution, don’t spend anything, Republican which is, again, embodied in the Tea Party group if you will or you are a Democrat who’s generally portrayed as a big spender”
DITTO
What are we going to do?
I liken Castle’s predicament to that of Senator Joe Lieberman, only Lieberman was smart enough to see the hachet coming and entered his election race also as an Independent in case his Dem Primary went bad. That saved his ass when his Dem Primary did in fact go bad. He ran in the general election as Independent and kept his seat. But I don’t know if Delaware election laws would have allowed Castle to do that.
DITTO
What are we going to do?
Party like it’s 1999…or like it’s 12/20/2012 (the day before), or now some random date in May, 2011 (I saw it on a sign the other day)?
How about WE stop wandering around indvidually wondering when that bonk on the head will stop hurting and actually gather and start doing things cohesively? That is the one and only thing I will give the neo-publicans credit for: they bonded and formed one hell of a freaking force. We, on the other hand…well…
Nice history rewrite there…Lieberman didn’t run as an independent until after the lost the Democratic primary.
I’d support a sane conservative party if it wasn’t just a corporation-friendly entity.
Castle was a Bush republican all the way. Screw him. “Go by the Constitution” is clearly an unknown concept to him.
Well then that’s it–we’ll splinter into teapublicans, and re-republicans. And see how far we’ll get.
“I’d support a sane conservative party” Why? Besides the term being an oxymoron, what would you possibly support about a “sane conservative party?” Was Castle a “sane conservative?”
LIEberman was collecting the signatures that he needed to run as an independent before he lost the primary. He was planning to run if he lost.
JC – it’s really going to be the inevitable path. People like you and me (and many others) aren’t welcomed, outside of attempting to squeeze compliance and support from us. I have had this conversation with DA and similar others in the past. To illustrate it, we can come to the table with them, but dare not speak. For them to accept you, it would take some compromise on their part. Tell me exactly where that is possible with their approach.
If only we could form a stronger 3rd party around here–not Independent–because that already seems to be baggaged–but moderate. A moderate party—just folks who are willing to pony up when needed for social issues, insist on audit and cut-off when spending is down a rat hole, promote jobs w/ corporate enticements, but cry foul on corporate welfare via individuals, and keep the country safe. I could go on–but it won’t happen this cycle :).
The pig O’Donnell has been showing the door to moderate republicans since at least 2006 when she told Republican women who support choice in the case of rape and incest “bye bye” on Cavuto.
She wants moderate Republican votes now? Fuck her. In fact, fuck her loud like you’re going to buy her house so she can avoid a Sheriff’s sale.
The Tea Party movement has drawn a line in the sand and forced every politician to choose a side. Some of these candidates actually mirror the values of the majority of the electorate in their districts; others like COD reflect a minority opinion that are whipped up enough to overwhelm the establishment. When the successful Tea Party candidates get to DC they are going to be confronted with a new reality. They are both ideological minorities and freshman legislators. These characteristics will combine to make them ineffective legislators. The best they can hope for is gridlock. I don’t think the majority of the Tea Party members will have the staying power once they see that even having elected their people to office, nothing has changed. In states like Delaware, where COD is going to get crushed, the withdrawal is going to be more rapid. The Rakestraw’s and Ross’s of the DE GOP will still be around long after the Evan Q’s have thrown up their hands and walked away.
“Moderate” as a political position for solving problems is a myth. There is no such thing. The big issues facing the country and the world can’t be solved on half-way compromise solutions, as the current “moderate” “centerist” administration is aptly demonstrating.
Excuse me Isotope, Lieberman ran under the party “Connecticut for Lieberman” in the general election and won. I stand corrected. The point is that he stayed in the race by hedging a possible Primary loss by going third party at the same time. Could Castle legally have done that in Delaware, anybody?
Could Castle legally have done that in Delaware, anybody?
The IPoD would have had to done their process of nominating him and then submitting that to DoE by a certain deadline, which escapes me at the moment. That was the same way that Campbell got on the ballot against Beau for AG. Neither the IPoD nor Castle sought out the other, as far as I know. I do know, though, that IPoD will consider anyone that shows an interest, but probably are a hell of a lot more careful now, considering the absolute snow job they endured in 2008.
I am not sure if he could have run “unafilliated” (the true independent, as IPoD is an actual party here). I know the old rules were you’d have to secure a minimum number of signatures to enter the ballot, which was in the low-thousands. Today’s rules, though, I am not sure if that is still an option, and if it is, how many sigs would be required.
Castle would have had to file by September 1, and the primary was on September 14. So, he could have done it but no doubt O’Donnell would have made hay out of him hedging his bets.
Yes, September 1 was a deadline for him to file with a party. I imagine the deadline would be the same if he filed as a new party (Delaware for Castle) but he’d have to file the correct number of signatures. If Blue Enigma could do it, Castle could have as well.
Fiscal conservatism used to be respectable, and practiced by both D’s and R’s (according to their own idioms of course).
So why are we now allowing teabaggers to be the face of fiscal conservatism?
In other words, by not implementing their own reasonable budget controls, both D’s and R’s created a vacuum that was filled by the crazy teabaggers.
If you supported the Bush Tax cuts or the Iraq war, you are responsible for the deficits which are the life force of the teabaggers.
In a delicious bit of irony, that same Connecticut for Lieberman party no longer supports Sen. Lieberman, and is planning on putting up a candidate to run against him in 2012.
Anvil: Excellent comment, and not just because I agree with it. It shows you have something to add when you’re not insulting liberals. Nicely done.
“Will the moderates be welcomed back into the GOP pup tent or will they find themselves alone?”
It depends on what Democrats do. Do liberals kick the Carper-Clinton-DLC DINOs out so they can align themselves with the RINOs, or do they stay in the back seat of a big-tent Democratic Party? The DINO-RINO Party would represent the centrists people always claim to be.
Personally, I’d like to see a DINO-RINO party so that the Democratic party would be more to the left. The Democratic party is dragged down in part because of its Blue Dog contigent. I’d like to see more left populism from the Democratic party.
IMO, a DINO-RINO alignment would hold the balance of power in the Congress. Imagine the power an alliance of Snowe-Collins-Brown-Lieberman-Nelson could have had if Snowe, Collins & Brown could have defied their party more. (Not that liberals would have like the outcome).
In the last Congress, the center-right Democrats held this power and that’s why the legislation got watered down.
In the last Congress, the center-right Democrats held this power and that’s why the legislation got watered down.
They held this power because Harry Reid gave it to them. Remember the House passed a public option.
If Angle knocks out Harry Reid, the Senate will immediately become more effective for Democrats (assuming Dems keep the majority).
On the other hand the House seems to have back-slid a bit by failing to call a vote on the Bush tax cuts. I hope that was just Pelosi deferring to the misguided political judgment from the White House, and not a shrinking from core values.
On the other hand the House seems to have back-slid a bit by failing to call a vote on the Bush tax cuts. I hope that was just Pelosi deferring to the misguided political judgment from the White House, and not a shrinking from core values.
This is because of an agreement with the Blue Dogs.
I guess I’ll have to root for Harry Reid because of Senate control. If he wins, though, Democrats need to kick him out of the majority leader’s spot.
If he wins, though, Democrats need to kick him out of the majority leader’s spot.
That will never happen. Dems keeping the Senate will be seen as a vindication for Harry’s spinelessness.
If Dems lose the Senate though, you might see someone challenge Reid for Minority Leader.
I’m rooting for an inside straight – a Reid defeat with Dems keeping control of the overall Senate.
Remember – it is Reid’s unwillingness to assert a more progressive agenda that is even putting Senate control in question this year.
Meanwhile the Democratic House candidate agrees with the Republican candidate that the Bush tax cuts for the rich should be extended.
So no matter who wins, the tax position of Delaware’s House delegation will remain unchanged.
No, it was Obomba’s unwillingness to assert a more progressive agenda.
Maybe, maybe not – but Obama’s not up for election, and Reid is.
“it is Reid’s unwillingness to assert a more progressive agenda that is even putting Senate control in question this year.”
“No, it was Obomba’s unwillingness to assert a more progressive agenda.”
There is very little evidence of either contention. Remember, while a majority supports most individual provisions of HCR, the bill as a whole is unpopular, and it’s not very close. Political cowardice is a product of the Democrats’ and administration’s inability to sell these ideas to enough centrists to maintain popular support. When you’ve got an enormous propaganda machine misrepresenting your ideas, it’s hard to sell them to a generally frightened public.
Why are we still in Afghanistan? Because any Democrat who gets troops out of the region will be accused of selling out America — keep in mind these assholes are still selling the idea that we could have won in Vietnam, and thanks to a new generation raised without an education to speak of, lots of people believe that. “A lie can go around the world before the truth can get its pants on.”
Geezer,
Obama campaigned on healthcare reform that would include a public option, would not tax healthcare benefits, and would negotiate would pharmaceutical drug prices. All of these were very popular positions with the public, and he lied about and reneged on each one of those promises.
The House passed a public option. Obama lied about his support of the public option while he sold out to the insurance companies. If Obama and the House had both fought together for the public option, we would’ve had a public option, even if it took reconciliation to get it. Harry Reid said that he supported a public option.
The public option had and has overwhelming public support. The election landscape would look quite different today if the Democrats were campaigning on delivering a public option, controlling pharmaceutical costs, and bringing down the cost of healthcare. Instead, they’re stuck with defending a bill that mandates payments to fatten private insurance company profits while doing virtually nothing to control actual healthcare costs.
And, unfortunately, when families start seeing 8% of their before tax dollars being sucked from them to pay for ever-increasing private health insurance costs, the political price could potentially be catastrophic for Democrats.
Castle got his decrepit old ass beat by someone playing his game. which is telling people you are something you clearly aren’t and getting them to vote for you b/c sheeple believe you no matter how often you lie.
eventually his lies caught up to him b/c he only served the business community and not the middle class.
If Coons maintains a certain level of independence and fiscal pragmatism, he should enjoy a long career in the US Senate. Much to Beau Biden’s chagrin.
Yes, there is going to be a civil war in the GOP and the self appointed elites who call themselves leaders are goners, nobody is buying their garbage anymore.
The interesting part is who picks up the pieces or more likely who wants to? The simple fact is the GOP needs someone who is tolerated by the Tea party, ( the 20 % whack jobs excluded) and someone who can pull some Reagan democrats to the polling booth.
Roughly 30,000 R’s showed up to support the establishment and 30,000 showed and said FU.
There are three likely suspects in who will pick up the disaster called the GOP. Vance Phillips, Mike Protack and Charlie Copeland.
Carpet Bagger Wedo is a goner after the Rollins debacle and the rest of the state legislature are a bunch of know nothings.
I know you liberals hate the above three but they are the ones to watch. Phillips by running a credible Urquhart race has raised his stock, Protack has has a steel poker in his eye many times by the GOP insiders but the insiders are pariahs now and Protack is the closest thing to being a Reagan Democrat. Copeland is popular with the old guard who while not in charge anymore do have some sway so he will be a player.
It is going to be fun, a lot of fun.
I’m predicting it’s over… As we here have been saying now for six years, Republican policies drove this country to ruin.
Look around.. See the ruins?
Now compare that to how Clinton’s policies gave us a budget surplus and if Gore had continued the trend begun by Clinton, we would have paid off the debt by now, and not had the Bush Depression, caused by a lack of oversight….
Though we cheer the demise of Republicanism, there is no way big money will leave politics. They are buying up blue dogs now, so when the Democratic party splits, which it will, they will still continue to be influential…
What Republican policies are they? Let’s get some details.
Are you talking about 10% unemployment?
Are you talking about 41% borrowed money for the fed budget?
Are you talking about foreclosure gate?
The big money is with the Bamster who has ruined this country in 20 months. A first class moron.
WTFC: Protack couldn’t win a primary in a wingnut year for a county council seat. Yeah, great future there.
Phillips is unknown outside of Sussex, and will be unliked once he is.
Copeland is exactly what you guys claim to hate. So get used to hating your leadership once again.
The lifeblood of politics is money. For all your huffing and puffing, the only candidates outside of the elite who have ever run for statewide office have had lots of it, including people like Clatworthy and Urquhart. Look at O’Donnell — if she had to depend on Delaware money, she couldn’t have aired enough ads to stay in the race.
The American Civil War had one side that was passionate and committed, and one side with lots of resources. Which side won?
It would not surprise me if O’Donnell decamps from Delaware after the election is over. Without her, the downstaters are fairly impotent, especially if Castle commits the resources necessary to rebuilding the NCC GOP base.