The mother of all Tea Party triumphs?

[babylonsister]

The mother of all Tea Party triumphs?
A paranoid debtor who equates lust with adultery is on the verge of a victory that will cost the GOP dearly
By Steve Kornacki

*

Two realities have increasingly become clear as this year's midterm Senate campaigns have taken shape. One is that enough seats are in play to give Republicans, who didn't even have the numbers to mount a filibuster on their own a year ago, a Senate majority. The other is that the Tea Party movement -- which essentially represents the disgruntled base of the GOP -- has forced enough fringe candidates on the party in enough marginal races to jeopardize the GOP's chances of fully capitalizing on what is a very favorable political climate.

And now, the Republican establishment's Tea Party-induced headaches may be about to get worse -- much, much worse. A stunning new poll released Sunday night finds Christine O'Donnell, a far-right gadfly and chronic debtor who has accused her political opponents of following her home and hiding in the bushes and who has equated lust with adultery, now running three points ahead of Rep. Michael Castle, a nine-term congressman and former two-term governor, in a GOP Senate race that will be settled this Tuesday. O'Donnell, previously known only for waging a series of hopeless, quixotic campaigns, has caught fire in the last few weeks, thanks largely to the Tea Party Express, which has poured money into the state on her behalf, and to a late endorsement from Sarah Palin.

The national implications of a O'Donnell victory on Tuesday would be stark: All of a sudden, a race that Democrats had written off as lost -- even Vice President Joe Biden's son was intimidated out of the race by the moderate Castle and his perceived general election invulnerability -- would be theirs for the taking. Until now, every Senate calculation has listed Delaware as a slam dunk pick-up for the GOP. But O'Donnell would make an absurdly easy mark for Democrat Chris Coons, the county official who entered the race when Beau Biden refused to. In essence, Tuesday's primary is a choice for Republicans between victory and defeat in November -- and they seem to be leaning toward defeat.

snip//

What is clear is that if O'Donnell does prevail, it will represent the Tea Party's most destructive (to the GOP) triumph yet.

more...

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/09/12/tea_party_delaware_new_hampshire/index.html

[PCIntern]

1. We better hope so...

God forbid that these guys and gals actually win en masse.

[babylonsister]

2. I honestly don't think there are enough teabaggers out there

to vote them in. Lots of sound and fury, but there are a lot of Dems out there, too, who hopefully have a clearer idea of who is categorically nuts. I'm hoping these whackadoos inspire some people to actually vote in the midterms; if fear of them works, I'm okay with it.

[rpannier]

3. This just underscores what I've said before

If you're a legit candidate and you choose not to run because you're afraid you'll lose, you're an idiot and don't deserve to ever hold that office -- Yes, this includes Bidens kid

[struggle4progress]

4. I might begin to appreciate Sarah Palin yet!

[tanyev]

8. Sarah Palin, the GOP's champion for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

Oh, please, may it be so.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. The Weekly Standard is making like Dr. Frankenstein

Having created the monster that is Sarah Palin, they've now realised she has spawned a new generation of monsters that may be unelectable (when the electorate is the, on average, sane American public, rather than the Igor-like Tea Partiers), and so they're trying to stop her befoer it's too late:

And maybe what is now the very real prospect of an O'Donnell win and its November implications will give just enough GOP primary voters cold feet to save Castle. Indeed, even as the PPP poll numbers were being released Sunday, the conservative Weekly Standard was reporting that O'Donnell had filed a $6.95 million gender discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employer, a conservative nonprofit organization, in 2005 and that she had falsely claimed to have done master's degree coursework at Princeton University in 2003 -- a late-breaking revelation that could stall her momentum.

[babylonsister]

6. Oh, brother, I do hope this bites them on their divisive rears!

That'd be so sweet!

[KharmaTrain]

7. The More Teabaggers The Better...

Nothing will drive the moderates and independents away from the GOOP than more of these "holier than thou" and dumber than a box of rocks candidate. The corporate media loves to trumpet how the baggers have changed the political dynamic...they sure have but only inside what's left of the rushpublican party. They're the worst, or should I say, best thing that could happen to this corrupt and disintegrating party. In their vain attempts to keep their regional party alive, the PTB have let the radicals take over and while it's showing short term results it's sure to be a long-term negative.

The more of these losers they run the better the chances for Democrats to hold their majority this year and, if the GOOP is successful in winning one or both houses, it will put these slimeballs in a bright national light...and one that may shine bright briefly but their rejectionist agenda will soon be a major liability. For every vote they have "attracted" by letting the great unhinged run the henhouse, they're losing two in those who are the targets of their bile (Hispanics, Blacks, LGBT and many other groups) who are forming a new American majority.

:hi:

[babylonsister]

10. I think they will be the gift that keeps on giving, sort of like

Michael Steele, and look where he is-banished to Guam! :D

:hi:, KharmaTrain.

[Buns_of_Fire]

9. Someone saw a correctly-spelled sign at a teabagger rally?

Fascinating. While the Democrats seem to be busy trying to divide-and-conquer themselves, rebubbalickins are just as busily trying to do the same to themselves.

Maybe -- for a change -- they'll be the ones to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

(ed. teabagger RALLY, not teabagger TALLY. Speaking of correct spelling...:blush:)

[starroute]

11. The history behind this is that it worked for the right a generation ago

In the 1970's, the "New Right" campaigned tirelessly against the domination of the Republican Party by the East Coast establishment -- being perfectly willing to lose elections to the Democrats in the short run as long as they cemented their control over the party in the long run. And that's exactly what they did.

I see these Tea Party extremists as pursuing the same strategy. They want to wrest control of the GOP out of the hands of the current establishment, and they don't mind losing a few elections along the way. They're aiming for 2012 and beyond, and what we'll face at that point is the the threat of normal fluctuations in our two-party system handing over the government to a completely radicalized GOP.

So let's not laugh too loudly over the Angles and the O'Donnell's just yet. We need to take the long view and think in terms of strategies that go beyond this fall's elections.

[gratuitous]

12. I'm a bit concerned, too

Depending on sanity to prevail in the Republican ranks has been a losing proposition since at least 1976. And the loonier they become, the further right Democrats move so that the loonies appear to stay in the ballpark (why, I do not know). Fer crissakes, we're arguing about keeping tax breaks for millionaires instead of talking about how we're going to rebuild and maintain our country's water system or public schools.

[LynneSin]

13. I love how this increases Chris Coon's chances but paranoid that she could still win it all

Even the established GOP party here in Delaware cannot stand this woman. They didn't mind her running for office when no one else wanted to challenge extremely popular Joe Biden or Tom Carper. The GOP is hurting here in Delaware and outside of Mike Castle there are no other legitimate GOP candidates out there that could do well in a statewide election. After all the mud-slinging the GOP has done towards O'Donnell it'll be very difficult for them to do an about face and support her in the primaries.

The only saving grace is that Chris Coons is very popular here in New Castle County, whose population is about 200k more than Kent & Sussex counties combined.


Christine O'Donnell is the GOP version of Alvin Greene. Someone who probably should never hold an elected office EVER because of being so far out-of-touch with reality. BTW, DSCC won't even show Alvin Greene on their home page (http://www.dscc.org/races) because they know this was a joke that should have never happened. I would suspect the mainstream republicans will be the same with O'Donell.

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

:thumbsup: