Posted on 11/03/2010 11:31:04 AM PDT by Qbert
(CNN) – The thing about Delaware is: it's no Kentucky. The Tea Party's first Senate loss of the night may be no big surprise - the only question heading into tonight's been how big a victory margin Chris Coons would capture over Christine O'Donnell. But the exit polls lay out the political and demographic roadblocks facing any Tea Party favorite here.
[Snip]
If GOP voters are feeling any buyer's remorse, they may take some solace in one surprising stat: despite pre-election polls that showed longtime Republican Rep. Mike Castle handily beating Coons in a hypothetical matchup, the voters who turned out today said they would still probably have sent Coons to Washington over Castle, backing him 44-43 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
Face it. Rove was right. O’Donnell was a flaky fringe candidate pushed into the big leagues by blind anti-RINO enthusiasm. She had just enough cuteness and communication skills to make an impression on disgusted primary voters, but she was a disaster in every other respect. Sure the media was out to get her but it doesn’t help when you shovel them ammo and make for an easy punchline. If this girl is serious about a career in politics she should give up the wannabe pundit routine and start building a real resume.
“probably” “44-43 percent”
Gotta love that CNN logic.
Still glad the cap and trader is gone.
The view from the cheapseats here, was that O'Donnell was villified in the press at every opportunity, day in and day out.
Pretty tough to fight the MSM full court from the opening buzzer, and I think she made a creditable showing.
The MSSM was out to crap on the TEA party movement, and she became the poster child for the campaign against Conservative America.
I really don't think going back to 'lesser evil' rino electing will benefit the country much either. After all, all those little compromises are what got the nation into this mess.
O’Donnell sucked! Plain and simple...
No more free passes.. call it like it is..
Nikki Haley was very good.. Rubio was very good.. I even like Angle...
However, O’Donnell was a freak. Yes, Rove sucked the BIG one for bashing her .. shame on him.. but she still sucked...
Stupid witch..
I was NEVER a Christine O’Donnell hater and what I heard from her and seen from her never convinced me that she was the evil moron that Karl Rove and the MSM made her out to be, but I didn’t know until last night that she had run for senator twice and lost badly.
I am not saying we should roll over for RINOs like Castle, but maybe it would be better to nominate somebody who isn’t a consistent loser.
I find it a little funny how Unions can support a Marxist considering how Marxist governments violently suppress unions. Delaware, you reap what you sow. Oh, how far the 1st state has fallen since 1776.
He had 3 million and the Delaware Republican Party in his pocket and couldn't beat "a flawed candidate".
The ridiculous lengths people go to to avoid placing this loss in the lap of the Delaware Republican Party is beyond absurd.
Memo to: Tokyo Rove
- JP
The minute O'Donnel got a serious look this thing was never going to be close. The reason the Dems/Media put so much focus on DE is they would much prefer the American people associate the Tea Party movement with Christine O'Donnell rather than competent, attractive pols like Rubio, Johnson, etc.
Every attempt to win with a conservative gets us closer to meaningful success while with every win with a RINO we slip further into the abyss.
“I am not saying we should roll over for RINOs like Castle, but maybe it would be better to nominate somebody who isn’t a consistent loser.”
In 1980, Ronald Reagan was an almost 70 year old, two-time failed presidential nominee. That one worked pretty well though...
But fair enough as to your larger point, for the next time around.
I never posted a negative word about Christine. To the contrary. I was pulling for her 100%.
But I think if she is set on running for public office, maybe next time she should set her sights a little lower than Senate. How about state legislature or, at most, U.S. House? Get a little more experience under her belt.
Agree. She’s was right on the positions but that’s not enough in elections where people are also judging the candidate personally. You can’t come off that...weird, especially if you’re a Republican.
I don’t get why a lot of conservatives seemed to push her as the face of the Tea Party. If anybody, it should be now Senator-elect Ron Johnson. Normal, every-day business guy actually pushed to run at a Tea Party event (unlike O’Donnell who was involved in politics before).
MSM ran an end-around. Notice they virtually ignored him to focus on the likes of O’Donnell. Why? Because he’s a much more appealing representative of the Tea Party.
YES. We don't need little girls telling us "I'm you!" like they're running for class president. We need accomplished regular Americans who have jobs, who work, who have homes and families and aren't interested in talking about masturbation and witchcraft when they're not spouting cliches when asked about foreign affairs.
The more our candidates ARE just like most Americans instead of TELLING us they are, the more we win.
MSM ran an end-around. Notice they virtually ignored him to focus on the likes of O’Donnell. Why? Because he’s a much more appealing representative of the Tea Party.
And they also treated Alvin Greene as a curiosity, not an emblem of a party movement they want to squash.
We have SO many potential great candidates, we need to tell the foolish and emphemeral ones "Sorry, we have more respect for the voters than to accept this."
He did have the qualification of winning the CA governor’s race though...
I would have loved to see her win but…..
She seemed to be a professional runner. She ran for other seats and lost and I think the republicans had it with her. The Tea Party looking for a new face, her looking for another run embraced each other. The Tea Party a relative babe in the woods made tremendous gains this election but also took some hits. We should all learn as much from the wins as losses and move ahead. Before supporting a candidate we must vet them as hard as their opponents will. Even in loss we win, think of the money and time that the Democrats wasted to make sure they would win.
Every conservative can expect that from the MSM.
What matters is how effectively they respond to an obstacle that they know is coming.
The MSM went after Angle tooth and nail, characterizing her as crazy and a racist - and doing the same for Rand Paul.
Why did Angle run so closely, why did Paul win, why did O'Donnell lose?
Angle ran a decent campaign in a purple state and she had the benefit of solid legislative experience to point to at the state level - a record of accomplishment.
Rand Paul ran a very good campaign in a red state and could point to years of private sector experience as a respected medical professional, and he had a wife and children who made him instantly relatable to family values voters.
O'Donnell ran a terrible campaign in a blue state, she had no relevant job experience to point to at all, and she was a 41 year old singleton with an odd biography - not very relatable.
She was telegenic and articulate - more so than Angle and even Paul - but also insubstantial.
Castle would have crushed Coons. The GOP apparatus from out of state destroyed what could have been a good year for the GOP in Delaware.
I am not a big Mike Castle fan, but the September primary was not the correct time to settle the score.
As I predicted, COD was a down-ballot disaster. Instead of recapturing the State House, the GOP lost additional House seats. The GOP candidate for State Treasurer, Colin Bonini, a genuine conservative, narrowly lost. He and other downballot conservatives wanted CASTLE at the top of the ticket.
Castle was only going to serve out the remaining 4 years of the Biden term. He would have given the GOP a vote on most issues about 60 percent of the time - like Scott Brown. Instead, we got someone who will be Reid’s “pet,” possibly for life. He will be wrong on issues 100 percent of the time.
Palin, DeMint, LEvin and others were WRONG to interfere in this race. Moreover, to DE, Castle would have enjoyed the most seniority of any freshman with his years in the House and having been a governor.
Apparently the fact that Castle lost to O’Donell in the primary hasn’t fazed some of you. He lost. Too early.
The lack of support of O’Donell by some elements of the Republican Party is going to be addressed in the future.
They have the duty to support whoever makes it through the primary. Period.
Otherwise there is no reason to have them around.
If you want to primary RINOs that’s fine with me. But put your resources and effort behind a credible, qualified conservative candidate, not just anybody with a pulse. Otherwise you risk handing the opposition an easy win and hurting the overall brand. O’Donnell’s goofiness probably made the PA senate race closer than it had to be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.