The days of blind support just because you have an "r" next to your name are over!
I suppose that the “losing is good” argument makes sense if it’s the only argument that you’ve got. I prefer a “winning is better” argument myself. The only reason to be involved in politics is to gain political power. Political power enables you to advance your agenda, to take conservative principles and conservative ideas and translate them into law and policy. Without political power, you are just a voice in the wilderness.
Power comes through winning. It doesn’t come from rationalizing a losing effort. It may indeed be a great thing that Castle was tossed out, but having Coons in the Senate and voting with Harry Reid is no victory. Conservatives seem to think that putting forward great conservative candidates is the objective, and if they lose, the cause of Conservatism was nobly served. I think that this is nonsense. A great conservative candidate who can’t win is not much use. O’Donnell got half way there, but came in second in the final race. Conservatives need to find candidates who can win the final race, no just the feel good contest.
Having seen the campaign and the candidate up close and personal during that amazing few moths in 2010, I heartily agree with this author.
Tokyo Rove met with conservatives in DE early in 2010 to get them on board behind Castle, who was a big proponent of cap and trade.
Rove was told to get lost and the war was on.
O’Donnell ran against Castle and it was a slugfest. But Christine won on Sept. 15th.
She only had seven weeks to the general. The GOP in DE came out AGAINST her, they were so ticked that Castle lost. O’Donnell put a monkey wrench in their plans.
They worked against her, Rove worked against her, the media chewed her up. She won her debate with Chris Coons,but you would have never known that from the DE media.
Tokyo Rove trashed her.Bill Maher trashed her to do the bidding of the libs, even though she had been on his show about 20 times.
In spite of all that she only lost by 25,000 votes in a deep blue state. And that margin of loss was less than the number of missing GOP votes in New Castle County.
Chris Coons was the executive of NewCasle County. AFTER the election, about a week later, the media lets loose that Coons overspent by a million dollars and more taxes were needed. That would have sunk him.
He went on that fall to vote for the repeal of don’t ask, don;t tell, which was never an issue he campaigned on.
Mike Castle showed what an ass he really was—he was another Sore Loserman.
After this debacle, the folks in the DE GOP turned out the entire leadership of the GOP here and replaced them. Longtime, patrician, wealthy party bigwigs were shown the door by the people.
Christine O’Donnell is not stupid. She is very conservative. I attended campaign events where she talked with all strata of people, and was wonderful to each person, even those who mocked her. She never would have done the damage that Chris Coons did.
She had no money when she started, no family name, just the drive to do the right thing and to serve her country and state.
She was preyed upon by so many, including Fred Davis, that media hack that released the “I am not a witch” spot, which Christine hated and told him EXPLICITLY not to release.
I have never witnessed the assassination of character in such a short time, from all sides, including those that should have lined up to support her.
She took the arrow meant for a lot of conservatives that season.
Talk about a war on women!
Thanks for posting this. I read it elsewhere and it was very good.
I wish I had been advising that campaign, when the whole “witch” thing happened I would have told her start playing the Bewitched thing and just run with it.
O’Donnell was close enough to Elizabeth Montgomery (whom everyone LOVED as Samantha); I think it would have worked.
It couldn’t have been worse than what they tried.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, folks, we’ve got to just keep swining away.
Some idiot asked her if she was a witch. She said no I’m not a witch. What was she SUPPOSED to do?
WAS IT ROVES INCOMPETENCE ...OR IS HE A JUDAS GOAT ?
To borrow from Limbaugh for those living Riolinda a Judas goat is used to lead US sheepels to the slaughter pen . The Republicans were give a chance to use a wedge issue to split up the deomcratic party and blew it.
Besides equating Obama’s socialist schemes particularly his energy policy running up the costs on everything thus forcing those with limited incomes to go on the dole.
Messaging (blaming Obama) that policy in terms those proverbial LIV’s could understand wasn’t even considered.
....Does anybody remember what the Democrats did at their convention ??? First they eliminated any mention of the word GOD...and when they thought twice about doing that they reintroduced the resolution what happened ? They booed God....That resolution was rammed through just like the Affordable Health Care Act ...
Was that fact used in any of the material Rove’s RINOS spewed forth during the 2012 Romney or US senate races his group of GOPES (Government Ofthe People Elite Snobs) used on their hit list ? I like using that acronym because it rhymes with dopes.
Noooo ! They could have used that episode to point out how far to the left the democrat party has hyphenated into; Demo-Coms ...Instead well we don’t like Aikin ...He said what ? OMG OMG he’s unqualified ...If there was a chance he would have been burned at the stake by Rove’s RINOS and the so called “conservative “ talkies spouting Rove’s tripe.
Why ? What drove this ? They were responding to the miss-directtion driven by Obama’s instuments of oppression Mainline Socialist Media (MSM).The Aikin or O’Donnels response to a set up phoney issue had to with something that would never occur in any legislation that would pass their respective desks had they been elected.
THE RESPONSE YOU DIDN’T HEAR WAS THIS “”While at their convention the Democrats were busy dening God . Aikin believes in something like the ten commandments. Including Thou shalt not steal and doesn’t believe that getting elected to office gives you a license to do steal ... Which his opponent seems to have done rather well since being in office. The same thing with Mourdock,O’Donnell, etc,etc, etc.
That presentation could have been expanded to Reid, Pelosi, and the slew of Demo-Com pigs at the trough. Expanding their personal wealth at the expense of the US taxpayers.
Now his bunch seems to be saying if you hold a religious view don’t run for office... We’re gonna save the Republican party ....to be finished off by Obama and the hypenated democrats..
Roves RINOS wrong for America and wrong for the Republican party...
GOD DENIERS LED BY A CONGENITAL LIAR
ARE REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH INCITERS/
FOR FIRST YOUR MONEY THEN YOUR GUNS
BE DEFENSELESS WHEN THEY COME
AND TO THEIR GOVERNMENT YOU MUST RUN
It’s time to get government out of Our face
Our religion and and Our pocketbook
(The above is designed to be printed up and passed around your precinct and your friends and neighbors as a (index sized) palmcard. On the face (REVERSE SIDE)or below the slogan you can put the name of the candidate you favor and the election dates...EXCELLENT FOR SLIPPING UNDER WINDSHIELD WIPERS ON CARS PARKED IN KEY PARKING LOTS CHURCHES, RALLY SITES....
IMHO, that was the real reason for the wailing and gnashing of teeth over O'Donnell. The establishment saw too many conservatives drifting out the doors of the big tent (or Castle, as the case may be), and decided they must put a stop to it. Too many uppity Christians and philosophical conservatives needed to be taught their place.
Once she won the primary, Christine O’Donnell deserved the complete support of the GOP establishment. If the elites in a party, the party’s so-called leaders, feel free to withhold support from the party’s nominee in an election, then what right do they have to demand that ordinary party supporters support the liberal presidential candidates that they help to nominate?
With their support of Illegal Alien Amnesty....Rubio and Paul are actual
Tea Party “mistakes”....not O’Donnell nor Sharron Angle. And Paul...note that Rand got alot of support from the Ron Paul - Alex Jones types.
Only PhonyCon Liberals still whine about ODonnell
What is mystifying about O’Donnell’s loss as a novice candidate for Senator Biden’s seat becoming the media and GOPe’s ultimate national embarrassment of politics, is that Senator Santorum lost by a LARGER margin, and he was the incumbent!
Santorum made history in his rejection by his constituents, and Romney was forced to drop plans for reelection and left office with 34% approval, yet O’Donnell who has never held office, has been morphed into the symbol of political losers by Rove and the media.
She was a bad candidate and lost badly.
I’m so glad someone has defended Christine O’Donnell. Very good analysis.