Tea party-backed Christine O'Donnell wins GOP nod for Senate race in Delaware

[LS]

I'm a little peeved with the mere assumption that O'Donnell can't win. Polls had Brown getting creamed; virtually all polls had both Miller and O'Donnell losing big just weeks before they won.

Moreover, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of the country club a-holes who still think they run the party. "So-and-so 'can't win' so we won't give so-and-so money." Well screw that. If anything the Tea Party has shown it can fund its own damn candidates.

I have been as loyal a Republican as you'll find, but Rush had this right: if the Republicans do not GET BEHIND THIS MOVEMENT AND GET THEIR HEADS OUT OF THEIR RECTAL CAVITIES, THEY WILL BE THE "THIRD PARTY."

They are starting to look very much like the Whigs, who ignored the issue of slavery when the rest of the nation was finally waking up to it, and they died to be replaced with a party that would address slavery. The biggest single issue today is not abortion, and it's not even terrorism. It's the continued, unrelenting growth of government and the establishment of a permanent political class that thinks it can ignore elections. We already see that the Democrats will be thrown out. The myopic Republicans better get a clue, and quick.

[LS]

I'm a big fan of the "Buckley Rule." But in this era of modern contrived polls manipulated by a liberal media, it is absolutely NOT clear "who has a good chance to win" in a general election. They said the same thing about Brown; and in the primaries, they said the same thing about Miller and about O'Donnell.

The one blemish on this was McCain's victory, but Hayworth had the misfortune of having just enough of the "old Washington politician" corruption on him that it made him look little different than McCain.

And don't forget Buckley himself was crushed in the NYC mayoral race.

[Godebert]

"I agree, bad candidate for the general election, she is going to be hammered and lose..all in the name of some misguided purity game. Thanks for nothing Sarah Palin."

Conservatives are purging the GOP of the traitors and un-American leftist swine. Freerepublic should do the same, starting with YOU!

[Friend of the Friendless]

Even if O’Donnell loses big, this election still has a positive impact:

1. Castle would have been a moderate Republican who would not take a principled stand. It would be far worse when he jumped on board with Democratic Socialist ideas as they could point to him as a reasonable person at odds with those screwball right wing Republicans.

2. This election sends a strong message to people like Lindsay Graham that he had better adhere to conservative principles.

3. What does control of the Senate really mean other than committee chairmanships? What we need is 41 rock solid conservative Senators who can stop the Obama agenda. We don’t want to have to rely on the Maine sisters of others who can easily jump ship.

[DeusExMachina05]

LOL. Yeah Im a traitor and your the fool.

[RangerM]

I hope you’re right, and I eat my words. Nothing would make me happier, because it bodes well for us in 2012 if Delaware elects her.

[RangerM]

Voting for investigation could just as easily be to exonerate as much as indict. I’m not aware of Castle’s thinking on the matter.

[MinuteGal]

"Thus ended hopes for the Senate. Bill Buckley is rolling in his grave."

Rush demolished THAT argument yesterday.

Interesting to see defeatists replacing the debunked Buckley Doctrine with the Neville Chamberlain Doctrine post-primary.

Leni

[MinuteGal]

Thanks for the hot link to the NRSC. That flaming blue dart you just saw streaking past your window was my email to them.

The elite bustards on this committee couldn't even wait for the losing RINO's body to get cold last night before disowning the conservative winner.

Folks, if you don't send an email to these DC Republican party manipulators, you're seriously derelict in your freeping duties. This is what we're here for (not to bloviate to each other) and we have to keep the pressure going.

I sent my email....go and do thou likewise.

It takes but a second if you're as inspired to write a line or two as was I.

Leni

[varon]

BTTT

[ScottinVA]

This win by O’Donnell, whose issue positions I like but (face it) who will very likely NOT win in November, actually relieves the pressure of pushing for a Senate takeover. With that in mind, perhaps the TPE should go after Kirk in IL with a vengeance, a la a 3rd-party right-flank attack, because it’s preferable to have dems in the Senate than RINOs, no?

[Truthsearcher]

No, I think they’d rather go after Coons and help O’Donnell win in DE.

[Polybius]

Furthermore, the Democrats will have to spend money in a blue state defending this seat. If the Democrats are "giddy" about Christine winning, it's PURE SPIN. They are crapping in their panties right now.

Spend money to defend against only 29% of all Delaware voters?

It is time to get out of the Echo Chamber and deal with reality.

Polls show that just 29 percent of Delaware voters have a favorable view of O'Donnell.

All politics is local and Delaware is not the Wyoming.

One recent release highlighted a Rasmussen poll showing Castle carrying a double-digit lead over Democrat Chris Coons in the general Senate race, 48 percent to 37 percent. When Coons and O'Donnell are matched up, Coons leads O'Donnell by a 47 percent to 36 percent margin.

So, Castle was not as "Republican" as political purists wanted him to be.

Well, folks, neither is Delaware.

In such a Left leaning state as Delaware, nominating a true conservative is like nominating Ralph Nader as the Democrat candidate for a Wyoming U.S. Senate race.

Is Scott Brown (R-MA) a "RINO"?

Yes, he is.

Did "RINO" Scott Brown put a stop to the far-Left agenda of Barack Obama?

Yes, he did.

What are the chances of electing a true conservative in far Left-wing Massachussets?

A snowflake's chance in Hell.

[Polybius]

What does control of the Senate really mean other than committee chairmanships?

Committee chairmen set the Senate agenda and often determine if bills are even allowed to be heard in committee in order to be able to come to a vote.

It means the difference between an Obama agenda and an anti-Obama agenda.

[ScottinVA]

All politics is local and Delaware is the Wyoming.

A point I've been making all along. One FReeper responded he'd rather see 30 "true conservatives" against 70 dems in the Senate than any RINOs. All great, except those numbers present no resistance to the dems' socialist agenda.

But we're makin' that "statement," right??

[NYRepublican72]

I understand why the RNSC is not spending money there right now, it’s a difficult, difficult map to win as a Conservative Republican.

The state has 621,000 registered voters. Nearly half (292,000) are Democrats. 183,000 are registered Republicans and 146,000 are Independents.

In order for O’Donnell to win, Democrat turnout will have to be significantly lower than Republican turnout (aka light turnout in the Wilmington area, heavy in the rest of the state). O’Donnell will also need a 20-30% defection of Coons voters, she’ll need to win Independents by like a 2-1 margin and hold most, if not all, of the Republican vote.

I’d rank her chances about the same as McMahon winning in CT and Raese winning in WV. I can see why the pundits are putting it in the leans Democrat column.

Don’t get me wrong, O’Donnell can win, she just has a very challenging road ahead. She’ll need a huge Tea Party tidal wave to push her over the top, which hopefully will materialize on Nov. 2.

However, until there’s polling indicating that this race is competitive (e.g. within 5 points), I agree with you. NRSC money should be shifted to states like WI, NV, WA, CA and IL where Pubbies have a better chance of winning.

[Polybius]

Thus ended hopes for the Senate. .... How so?

See the numbers in Post 433.

In Left-leaning and heavily Democrat Delaware, somebody that Free Republic calls a "RINO" is called "considerably right of center".

When you start out the general election with only 29% of all voters having a favorable opinion of you, you are running an ego trip, not a U.S. Senate race.

[meyer]

What value does control of the Senate have, if the republicans have many of the same beliefs as the democrats? I don’t think the repubLICKan leadership understands - the PEOPLE don’t want that, and they showed it in this election.

The best candidate won. If the RINOs don’t like that, they can kiss my butt. That they tried to damage a conservative candidate in THEIR OWN PRIMARY speaks volumes - they’re losing control, and the people are regaining the control that they constitution guarantees them. The people chose O’Donnell and the party’s throwing a tantrum. Screw the GOP leadership.

[Theodore R.]

Yes, and a lot of the energy of 2010 will be gone by 2012, and nothing will ever change.