Posted on 10/23/2010 2:24:07 AM PDT by Daisyjane69
Everyone in this state knew that Rep. Mike Castle was going to be our next U.S. senator. He had served as a state legislator, lieutenant governor (during my second term as governor), governor and nine-term congressman. He was well ahead in the primary and general-election polls. But in the Republican primary on Sept. 14, Christine O'Donnell won by a bit more than 3,500 votes.
As everyone in Delaware also knew, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons, the Democratic Party's Senate candidate, had no chance of beating Mr. Castle. But he was quickly some 15 points ahead of Ms. O'Donnell.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Daisyjane69
there is no chance of a Castle endorsement (and I don’t think Christine wants one, she is comfortable running as an outsider/underdog). The reasons are personal, not policy.
Pete DuPont (Delaware’s greatest Gov) endorsed Christine publicly at the Brandywine Road to Victory Dinner, in the heart of Castle teritory with Mike in the room. At that same dinner, Castle shook Christines hand and made sure the photographers got a good shot of it.
Those who are whining that Pete is a “rino” because he did use the word endorse in his WSJ endorsement of Christine are silly.
As a former Delawarean I can tell you that the majority of Republican politicians and most voters in Delaware are RINO’s. Pete DuPont, RINO that he may be, is a well respected person with both Delaware Republicans and a good number of independents.
O’Donnell already has the Conservative vote, so there is no need to reach out to them. What Pete DuPont has done is call on the RINOs and Independents in Delaware, and formal endorsement or not, his article can do more good than bad.
Nice article by Pete DuPont. I lived in Delaware from 1973 to 2003 and still think he was the best governor we ever had. Its too bad that he never caught on as a presidential candidate.
Notice how DuPont, in this article, stays focused on issues and the differences between the two candidates. If Republicans can continue to do this nationally they will prevail in a big way over the next few election cycles.
Its a shame that Christine O’Donnell will lose on November 2nd. I think she would be a fine Senator. Her biggest problem is her lack of experience as an elected official...and that will ultimately lead to her defeat. The non-issues (witchcraft, views on sex) are distractions that could be overcome if she had a better resume. Nonetheless, I’m glad that she took out Mike Castle who is a fine man, but has moved further and further to the left since he went to Washington as DE’s congressman. He unfortunately allowed himself too get to close to Joe Biden and his vote for cap and trade was the last straw for many DE Republicans.
Crystal ball aside, I think she can win for precisely that reason. If her campaign makes the point that all these “resumes” have betrayed us, have designed a new government “by their people, for their people” I think she’ll pull it out.
This is DuPont giving Castle Republicans coverage to vote for Christine, by pointing out it really is a vote against Obama/Coons. For her to win the nominally GOP base needs to unite, if not behind her then at least against Obama/Coons. Castle’s conniption fit opposes that. DuPont is the only GOP grownup who might trump Castle in DE. May it work!
Kenny, that would be great if she pulls it out, but I believe not having a better resume is going to hurt her with Independant voters. They are the ones who probably are going to believe some of the charges (distractions) against her and, without a better resume, will either stay home or vote for Coons.
Some posters are criticizing DuPont for not being more overt with his endorsement, but I think it has to do with the close personal and professional relationship between Pete and Mike Castle. If you remember DuPont chose Castle to replace him as governor in 1984. That made it easy to for Castle win that election. Its too bad that Castle became more and more liberal as he went to Washington, but I think it was also a result of Delaware's transformation from a chemical/industrial/agricultural based economy to a financial economy when the banking community moved to DE. As more banking jobs came to DE the state became more liberal and Castle simply changed with the times.
I voted for Pete DuPont when he was running for President!
I wish someone would prevail upon him to endorse and campaign for her. Coons would not only be a disaster for Delaware, but for the nation.
Do we know how Mr. Coons might vote on lame duck legislation involving either: the attempted confiscation of 401k or IRA accounts
or dumping the pension obligations of unions, on the taxpayers?
Both proposals are before this Congress. It might be helpful to know how people are voting.
WSJ articles are not for endorsements. To assume that is just silly. If you don’t think this is stronger than standing on a soapbox and proclaiming it as an endorsement, you are missing the value of the article entirely.
Exactly correct!!! Pete DuPont has found the best medium (WSJ) to clearly identify the issues in the race. He isn't going to embarrass the WSJ by using as a venue for a blatant political endorsement.
Sometimes we forget that the progressives still control the mainstream media. That is slowly changing, but until it is more balanced we have to wisely use the venues that we've got.
I don’t know how conservative Pete DuPont is, but I do know that many members of the family are very conservative, and can be seen at Traditional Latin Masses around the Delaware Valley. They are pro-life, pro family, and are for fiscal sanity. So I’m sure more than a few of them are not only O’Donnell supporters, but probably voted for her in the primary against Castle.
You do realize, don’t you, that Christine O’Donnell broke her word in 2006 and refused to support the GOP winner, running a write-in campaign instead...right? So it’s difficult for her to cast stones.
I've noticed that those who have never come within 1,000 miles of Delaware and have no understanding of the state's politics and history are now "experts"...while those of us who've known Miss O'Donnell for years and have been her (literal) neighbor are now called "RINOs."
Yes, she ran a write-in campaign, receiving more votes than the Libertarian Party candidate - but her votes were not counted. Yes, she refused to support the party candidate, the one who resigned from the GOP because his support for 0bambi was greater than GOP principles.
I see no problem in her not supporting a RINO/RAT based on principles. RINOs in DE are too quick to denounce her for this, failing to understand that if you apply principles to one, you must apply them to all.
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