Just What Is Mike Castle’s Voting Record? (Without the histrionics)

National Review ^ | September 7, 2010 | Jim Geraght

[tlb]

...a state registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 329,000 to 179,000.

Castle voting history suggests he will vote with conservatives 52 percent of the time. If Coons is elected and votes in a pattern similar to Delaware’s other senator, he will vote the conservative 12 percent; if he emulates current Democratic senator Ted Kaufman, he will vote the conservative position 4 percent.

Over his 17 complete years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Castle has voted the conservative position, as defined by the American Conservative Union, about 52 percent of the time. In 2009, ACU scored Castle at 56.

Castle opposed the Lilly Ledbetter pay act, which the ACU described as a “new Pandora’s Box for trial lawyers.” He voted for a bill that would prevent the Treasury from spending the $350 billion that remained in the TARP program. He opposed the Obama stimulus. He voted against efforts to water down legislation barring federal funds to ACORN or other organizations that employ people who have been convicted of election-law violations. He voted to eliminate the earmark for the airport near Johnstown, Pa., named after Rep. John Murtha. He voted to cut discretionary government spending in the appropriations for the Departments of Housing and Transportation by 5 percent.

He supported an amendment to the health-care bill that would ban using taxpayer funds to provide abortion services, an interesting vote for a self-described pro-choice Republican. He voted against the health-care bill.

Castle thinks trying to repeal Obamacare while Obama is president is a waste of time, but he’s open to the idea if the GOP can regain control of the White House:

This is not some new position shift, spurred by the impending primary; the video above is from April.

Castle’s sense that any repeal effort would be unable to overcome a presidential veto..

[AuH2ORepublican]

I am not by any means one of those persons who claims that only someone as liberal as Mike Castle can win in Delaware; a conservative with adequate experience and the right profile can win in Delaware or pretty much anywhere. If a conservative who had served with distinction in the state legislature, been successful in the business world or a decorated military veteran, who was an eloquent exponent of conservative principles with the ability to connect with voters, and who in general had proven to be responsible, honest and trustworthy, was running against Castle in the primary, I would support such a conservative candidate because I think that Delaware could well support him or her for the U.S. Senate. However, no such candidate filed to run against Mike Castle; only Christine O’Donnell filed. And Christine O’Donnell is none of those things. Christine O’Donnell can’t win not because she’s conservative; she can’t win because she’s a dishonest, irresponsible gadfly, and if she was a liberal Republican she couldn’t win a general election either (she might win as a liberal Democrat, though, because if Delaware voters gave John Kerry a 53%-46% majority over President Bush, they obviously don’t set a very high bar for liberal Democrats to clear).

Conservatives lost this Senate seat the second that the filing deadline passed and only Castle and O’Donnell had filed to run. This was a wasted opportunity, but we can’t turn back time. The next Senator from DE will be either RINO Mike Castle (with his 52 ACU rating) or the liberal Democrat Coons (who will likely compile a single-digit ACU rating if elected). I think that it behooves us to take the half loaf in Mike Castle and start looking for a qualified conservative to challenge him in the 2012 primary. In the meantime, whether DE elects Castle or Coons could well be the difference between having conservative Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (with the power to clamp down on Obama’s judicial nominations) and having ultraliberal Democrat Pat Leahy remain as Chairman. Conservatives like us would normally crawl through broken glass to replace Leahy with Sessions as Chairman of Judiciary; this time, we are not required to crawl through broken glass to obtain such result, only to hold our noses and vote for the RINO over a candidate that is conservative (and cute), but very, very flawed.

[AuH2ORepublican]

I think that comment is spot-on. A serious, qualified conservative *can* win in Delaware, and it’s a shame that no one fitting that description is running for the Senate there. O’Donnell can’t win not because she’s conservative, but because she’s an irresponsible, dishonest gadfly with no prior accomplishments.

[ALPAPilot]

Not only that I think we (the Republican) lose way more votes on the right than we ever gain on the left. If I had a dime for every conservative who shuns the Republicans because they won't stand for principals I'd be rich. And those principals are simple and were unanimously agreed to on July 4, 1776.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

I want a government that will secure my unalienable Rights. That includes the right to own property and to keep the fruit of my labor. For this I'm tarred as a hateful, bigoted, right wing extremist by RINO's, MSM, and democrats everywhere. If candidates like McCain and Castle won't pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to uphold those principals, I want nothing to do with them.

To quote Lincoln: . Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.

[Dr. Sivana]

First, the ACU rating does not weight votes properly, so conservatives are free to choose their own key issues. On guns, abortion, cap and tax, repealing Obamacare, Castle is all wrong.

But this election is about more than a vote for Senator in Delaware. It is even about more than which party controls the Senate. It is about the Soul of the Republican Party. The Christine Todd Whitmans, Lowell Weickers, Arlen Specters, Lisa Murkowski, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Jeffords, Lincoln Chaffee, John Warner and Mike Castle-types put crippling conservatives in their own party first, looking for areas of agreement with the lefties second, pleasing their biggest contributors [who usually give heavy to incumbents in both parties] third, and occasionally toeing the party line fourth. While our guys like Brownback back lefties like Sebelius when nominated, John Warner couldn't even endorse Ollie North for a very winnable Senate seat in the same state. The Republican Party in Delaware, and nationwide does not do a very good job of lining up votes. If you don't punish this behaviour, you get more coming out of the woodwork. You will also notice, that O'Donnell ran ads pointing out deficiencies in Castle's record. Castle, on the other hand, went on a nuclear attack, doing best to make sure she is crippled in a general election run should she win.

I don't believe that a conservative cannot win Delaware. It is not quite Washington, DC. Here in deep-blue Illinois, conservative pro-life Brady is ahead of the Dem incumbent governor by 10 points. Pete Fitzgerald had the Senate seat eventually taken by Obama. He was chased out by the "moderates" in his own party. Pete DuPont, a very solid conservative, was governor of the state not so long ago. Michigan had John Engler for governor. New Hampshire had Sen. Bob Smith. New Jersey's Chris Christie, while imperfect, has the character and demeanour of a conservative, and is more pro-life than that region is supposed to allow.

If South Dakota can elect a Tom Daschle, and Nevada a Harry Reid, then Delaware can elect a Christine O'Donnell.

[Rational Thought]

There are no set rules. In some instances you do have to support someone who's Conservative credentials may be questionable, such as Carly Fiorina (who has surprisingly not run to the middle). In the Delaware case, what's on display is the Republican establishment showing their true colors. They view the Tea Party with almost as much disdain as the Democrat leadership.

We have two enemies in our Conservative battle, perhaps with the most dangerous of the two being those who are viewed (by many) as being on our side.

[xzins]

Has O’Donnell made a public statement on pro-life?

[lack-of-trust]

“character assassination, rumor and innuendo”

Well Johnnie

in the active Castle/O’Donnell treads on FR today you will find the following character assassination, rumor and innuendo:

Gutter Politics like
Castle is gay
Castle will switch to Democrat after the election
Castle will endorse the Democrat Coons after he looses the primary
Castle will resign from the Senate so Junior Joe Biden can be appointed
Castle broke into Christine’s house
Castle/GOP staffers are stalking Christine and hiding in bushes near her apartment.

Both sides will claim the other went negative first, but this sewage has been flowing for months.

[mac_truck]

Forest and trees bump.

[no dems]

In 2007 Americans for Tax Reform gave Representative Castle a grade of 58. In 2007, the American Conservative Union gave Mike Castle a 20 percent rating.Source: VoteSmart.org

That's pretty much all I need to know.

[LeonardFMason]

Your wasting your time. O’Donnell supporters are so busy RINO hunting they will overlook any/every obvious flaw O’Donnel has.

BTW, O’Donnel1 cult members, if you think the NRC and the Republican “establishment” are tough on O’Donnell just wait till the DNC and its liberal allies in the press start going after O’Donnell. It will be a slaughter.

[lack-of-trust]

You are absolutely right, If Ray Clatworthy was running this year, Mike would have stayed in the House and Ray would be leading in the polls, making national news.

[SharpRightTurn]

National Review and Geraghty are still at it, shilling for Castle (like they did for McShame).

Consider the competing sources in this race: Rush, Malkin, Ingraham, and Levin for O’Donnell vs. National Review, Weakley Standard, Bill Kristol, Hugh Hewitt, and Michael Medved for Castle.

Who are you going to line up with?

[Texas Fossil]

I don’t live even near Delaware, but he did vote for Cap & Trade. I see NO Defense for him.....

[Rational Thought]

The Republican establishment has already provided the DNC all the material they could ever want.

The choice is simple. Delaware can elect an Arlen Specter want to be, or a Tea Party candidate.

FYI, Hotair has now weighed in....

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/13/odonnell-takes-lead-in-ppp-poll/

[CitizenUSA]

I agree, Rational Thought. The enemy within is nearly always more dangerous than the enemy without. I keep reading about how conservatives are purging the party and moving it to the far, far right (since when did pro-life, support for traditional marriage, and a belief in constitutional government become so radical??). Let’s give the leftists and their RINO allies something new to whine about in Delaware!

[MNJohnnie]

Go actually look at the coverage.

ALL the case against O'Donnell amounts to is a whisper campaign. A collection of rumor, innuendo and half truths. The only other thing against O'Donnell the RNC drones can come up with is to endlessly chant “she cannot win” based on ONE SINGLE POLL.

Mp< So spare us the hypocrisy of fraudulently accusing your foes of what Castle and the NRC have actually done.

Castle and his minions have ran a gutter slime campaign of personal attack, innuendo and character assignation. They have offered NO reason to vote FOR Mike Castle. Instead they have engaged in the usual sort of personal attack politics Republicans are use to seeing directed AT them by the Progressive Fascist political machine.

That sort of campaign tactic may work with Leftists, it does not sell to Conservatives. If Mike Castle loses on Tuesday, the RNC and Castle can look in the mirror to see why they lost.

[nhwingut]

I just watched O’Donnell (for the first time on FNC). She’s a bit ditzy. IMO. No Michelle Bachmann. That is for sure.

But I did like the fact that she framed any/all criticism as a “personal attack”, a “desperate move”... Basically using the Dems playbook in Interviews 101.

Personally, I think Delaware is gone no matter who wins. If O’Donnell wins, the GOP establishment will defund her and trash her on all the talk shows. And if Castle wins, he’ll get no support from conservatives or Tea Party types.

[freedomwarrior998]

The O’Donnell campaign team has an good cyber-squad who are generating a lot of noise on the net.

Cyber goon squad. LOL!

[LeonardFMason]

“The Republican establishment has already provided the DNC all the material they could ever want.”

You HONESTLY believe the Democrat attack machine would have missed all of the problems O’Donnell has? Which flavor Kool Aid do you drink? Sheeeesh.

[onyx]

(Without the histrionics)

What, pray tell, is the all the fuss about in the first place if it’s not about promoting a 70 year old, career politican over a new-comer with fresh ideas?

The powers that be are acting like the career politician has a ‘right’ to the seat based upon his life-long experience and the inexperienced upstart should be dismissed from serious consideration.