And we’ll find out just how nuts NRA is for endorsing Christine O’Donnell in the primary. My instinct would have been to sit this one out. Not because Mike Castle is our best friend, but because this strikes me as a risky bet. Some polls have shown the race between O’Donnell is close, and turnout is expected to be low. NRA would, no doubt, like to be able to send the message to Castle, and by contrast all the other Republicans, that they can end the political careers of intransigent Republicans (hear that Lindsey Graham?).
But to send that message, you have to win, and we’ll see how O’Donnell does after tonight when the results start to come in. The end result, either way, is likely going to be that seat remaining anti-gun. If Mike Castle wins his primary, he’s polling well for November against Chris Coons. If O’Donnell wins, the Democrats are very likely to hold that seat. These party concerns can’t and shouldn’t be a concern for NRA, but it’ll make November interesting. O’Donnell, to put it mildly, is nuts. I don’t see any scenario where she wins in Delaware, with the Democrats holding a significant registration advantage, and where Independents tend to like more moderate candidates. I think Delaware could support a better conservative than Mike Castle, especially this election, but I don’t think it can support someone as far right as Christine O’Donnell. This seems to be a frequent mistake being made by the Tea Party movement.
If there really is an uprising occurring in the voting ranks, this will be a great gauge! And far enough out from November to adjust some if needed.
S. have you seen Castle’s house.gov page?
http://www.castle.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=4443
Here is one of the choice exercpt:
Assault Weapons Ban – Rep. Castle, a long-time supporter of the 1994 Crime Bill, which included the Assault Weapons Ban, has written legislation to extend the ban for 10 more years. This ban has been allowed to expire and Mike Castle believes Congress should immediately reinstate this commonsense measure to keep semi-automatic weapons off the streets
The NRA was right in endorsing Anyone But Castle. If he wins, I hope they endorse the Dem. Castle is a gun-banner and an obvious one at that.
ODonnell needs to win for so many reasons.
As he said, no matter what happens today, an anti-gunner will hold that seat. I think that illustrates that he knows Castle’s record quite well. We’ve both discussed how extremely anti-gun Castle is in private and on the blogs. If Castle wins, the seat is likely to be anti-gun because Castle has a damn good shot in the general. If O’Donnell wins, she’s going to lose the general and we have the same outcome. It’s lose-lose for gun owners.
don’t see any scenario where she wins in Delaware
Nor do I Sebastian. If by some miracle she beats Castle I can’t see her beating Coons.
O’Donnell reminds me a bit of Ron Paul. She says many things I agree with, but then does things that make me think she dropped too much acid in college.
It really does look to be a choice between two shit sandwiches.
Actually, I can’t find too much on Coons’ record. Castle is bad enough that if Coons doesn’t lead on the issue, it would be an improvement.
“Actually, I can’t find too much on Coons’ record. Castle is bad enough that if Coons doesn’t lead on the issue, it would be an improvement.”
Perhaps that was part of the deal they made with Reid when they came out and didn’t endorse him – that they would take out Castle and advance the 2nd Amendment while at the same time preserving the Democrats Senate majority and Harry Reid’s senate leadership AND their ability to play with both sides.
I don’t know, he’s a guy who said he questions American freedom and wealth. He doesn’t believe in free enterprise, either. Granted, the article is old, but he was a senior, so I don’t think it can be written off as musings of a child like his campaign is now arguing. I may have rolled my eyes at Amherst boys more than a few times in my time up there, but I wouldn’t consider any of them stupid. So he knew what he was saying, and those are some pretty damn radical positions. (Link swiped from Geraghty.)
“NRA would, no doubt, like to be able to send the message to Castle, and by contrast all the other Republicans, that they can end the political careers of intransigent Republicans (hear that Lindsey Graham?).”
Sometimes a scorched earth tactic isn’t about the ground being scorched.
So what’s nuts about O’Donnell?
Why is she nuts? It’s not about her positions, it’s because she’s making insane accusations and seemingly lies about just about everything. She believes her political opponents hide in her bushes. She filed a $6 million lawsuit against her former employer making claims that they needed to compensate her for her lost time spent working on her graduate degree at Princeton when a) she was not working on a graduate degree at Princeton, and b) she didn’t even have her bachelor’s degree at the time (also something she lied about). She got caught lying that she won 2 out of 3 counties to Joe Biden in 2008 when she lost every single county, and when anyone even asks her about it, she claims they are being paid off by Castle to smear her.
If you heard her infamous performance on a friendly-to-conservatives radio show, you’d know what a train wreck she’ll be for the general. She went off on a host who has previously endorsed her just because he asked her about her recent lies. She first tried to deny, until he pulled up audio. Then she stuck by them even when all of the facts are flat out wrong – the woman lost every single county in 2008. He was clearly trying to give her a way to back out politely, and she just could not accept it and said he was clearly working on behalf of Mike Castle.
She claims having made less than $6,000 last year, yet supposedly paid off about $12,000 in debts, so there are questions about whether she lied on her Senate reporting forms, too. I’m sure the Dems will be looking into that more closely. She makes claims of political vandalism to her home and office, yet she can offer no proof and magically decides to never file police reports. She just seems to make things up as she goes along, and her campaign attacks anyone who raises questions about these mysterious claims.
Why do people keep saying O’Donnell is too far right? Because she is Pro-Life? Please.
When Republicans (like Castle) run as Dem-Lites, they lose. When they run as actual Conservatives (like Reagan) they win. I wouldn’t be surprised if O’Donnell wins in November.