Oh my: Chris Christie endorses Mike Castle
posted at 12:22 pm on September 3, 2010 by Allahpundit
In which Team Castle tosses tea partiers a curveball: If the right’s new rock star thinks he’s conservative enough, shouldn’t they think so too? I’m … not so sure they should, partly because Christie’s own “true conservative” credentials are slightly less radiant than they were three months ago (remember what he said about immigration and the Ground Zero mosque?) and partly because he’s laying it on awfully thick here. Granted, if you’re going to endorse someone, there’s no sense in holding back on praise. But Mike Castle, who voted for cap and trade, as a guy committed to “controlling spending” and “cutting back the size of government”? Seriously?
There is a reason to prefer Castle — very, very grudgingly — but we’ve already hashed that out. For further thoughts, see Gabe Malor, who wonders why any righty would rather see a Democrat win than a RINO, particularly when it could mean the difference between Democratic and Republican control of all-important Senate committees next year. The response to that argument is usually some variation on the idea that we’re one crushing defeat away from total victory — that if blue states aren’t ready to elect “true conservatives” yet, well, then it’s better to leave Democrats in control so that they can ruin the country even more and eventually produce a real conservative backlash. (Which, I guess, means we shouldn’t have supported RINO Scott Brown in January, since he spoiled Obama’s filibuster-proof majority.) The flaw in this reasoning, of course, is that some things are bound to go right for Democrats despite their dumbest efforts to prevent that from happening. The economy will start to speed up again, even with The One keeping his foot on the brake of the engine of growth (note the car metaphor!), and if the Democrats control Congress when it does, they’ll get plenty of credit from voters. You’re simply not going to get a map that’s completely red, any more than the idiot liberals who were high on Hopenchange two years ago were ever going to get a map that’s completely blue. And as I said yesterday, however much they may irritate you, RINOs are marginally better than Democrats. I recommend re-reading this Doctor Zero post from last year on that subject, after Glenn Beck suggested that McCain would have been worse for the country than Obama. Ain’t so, although it certainly is comforting to believe it.
Exit question: You know whose endorsement would really nail this down for Castle? Ahem.
Update: Further to Gabe’s point, here’s a new piece from Charlie Cook that’s set to drop tomorrow. Title: “The Senate’s In Play.” Do you want it or not?
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If we can get a blue state to turn purple, and accept some conservative arguments, then yes, it is the right direction. Remember, DE sent Clueless Joe Biden to the Senate since forever. If they can get their heads wrapped around the idea that electing someone to Biden’s right is acceptable, then you make further arguments that hey, it would be even better with a more right wing candidate. You just are not going to get a lot of people to swing so far from one end of the spectrum to the other over night. The Fascist-Democrats are doing long term damage to this country. We need to stop the bleeding immediately, then work on long term recovery.
rbj on September 3, 2010 at 1:12 PM
Allah is on call 24/7 for all RINO and Palin posts.
joejm65 on September 3, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Ouch! And on that happy note, I’ll sign off for now. Be nice to each other, Hot Airers, remember your goal is the same!
cynccook on September 3, 2010 at 1:12 PM
Allah is on call 24/7 for all RINO and Palin posts.
joejm65 on September 3, 2010 at 1:11 PM
LOL good one!
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM
Unless you really think the GOP is going to get 67 senate seats this simply will not happen. It can be defunded, regs changed, and the like but total repeal won’t happen until you have a Republican president and majority in the senate and house.
Bradky on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM
[faraway on September 3, 2010 at 12:59 PM]
Purity was the best option sis months ago, and let the chips fall where they may and take it from there. Now is now and we have to deal with what the opposition, which includes Dem voters have dished out. The most important thing is to win as much as we can this time and go to work to improve on that in the next two years.
This is a process, not an event.
Dusty on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM
All conservatives are nuts to you.
faraway on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM
sis=six
Dusty on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM
You know what the Good Book says (well, Ed would know, but you might not): “Put not your trust in princes.”
manwithblackhat on September 3, 2010 at 1:15 PM
How soon we forget! RINOs like Castle just destroy the Republican/Conservative brand in the public’s eye. Do we forget what happened back in ’06 and ’08 with Congressmen and Senators like Castle?
Its better to loose the Senate than to have folks like the Dames of Maine and Castle on the team. The American people see who is “in control” of the Senate and blame/credit that party as a whole. So having these liberal Republicans on board a marginally Republican controlled Senate will be much worse for the re-founding movement underway in the United States.
JeffVader on September 3, 2010 at 1:17 PM
For such a passel of RINO’s they held up pretty well against Obamacare and the attendant Dem lunacies lately.
In the end not a single House Republican voted for the Obama Health Care Bill.
Maybe a few have had post-Bush spine implants?
profitsbeard on September 3, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Considering that O’Donnell is a nut who thinks she’s being followed, Christie probably did the wise thing.
irishspy on September 3, 2010 at 1:18 PM
rbj on September 3, 2010 at 1:12 PM
good points except that De has eleceted Castle 9 times to congress and yet the state in those 18 years has moved deep blue. the way to move a state from blue to red is to elect FAKE RINO’s not real ones. Like the fake conservatives the dems elected in red states in 2006 and 2008.
the only difference is that conservative policies work and thus the voters won’t revolt when they find out they elected a consevertive instead of a RINO.
a stealth conservative running as a RINO in blue states will move the northeast back into the red state sphere
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:18 PM
So you are trying to tell me that our fine Republican members of the judiciary (like Lindsey Graham, Grassley, & Hatch) are going to keep an Obama SC nominee from moving forward? When’s the last time that happened?
Like I said, I guarantee Castle will approve any Obama nominee.
jmell7 on September 3, 2010 at 1:19 PM
[faraway on September 3, 2010 at 1:13 PM]
Chudi is just saying that because O’Donnell thinks soccer is a joke. :)
Dusty on September 3, 2010 at 1:19 PM
How about actual votes on things that matter? How much stuff did he vote Conservative knwoing it would pass anyway? His rating in 2008 was 28. In 2009 it as 56. So the moment he decided he wanted to run for senate he switched gears to avoid a tough primary. What happens when he doesn’t have to worry about reelection for 6 years? It won’t mean going from 56 to 86 I can tell you that.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 1:19 PM
Repeal is a long term goal. No one is saying it will happen tomorrow, but eventually we need 60 plus the White House in 2012.
El_Terrible on September 3, 2010 at 1:20 PM
If this were a congressional seat or even a gubernatorial primary I would HAPPILY throw money at O’Donnell’s primary challenge against this Arlen-Specter-impersonating RINO in Delaware.
But the Senate is within our grasp… the last year has shown us how just ONE senator can effectively wear down even a supermajority in the upper chamber.
Castle, for whatever reasons, is polling well ahead of his dem opponent in BIDEN’S OLD SEAT… we simply cannot risk endangering even one senate seat. Not this year, not with this president and not with the problems we have.
Khorum on September 3, 2010 at 1:20 PM
well we all know you have no nuts, so I am going to assume you are a woman.
BTW, what DO you support?
upinak on September 3, 2010 at 1:21 PM
In the end not a single House Republican voted for the Obama Health Care Bill.
Maybe a few have had post-Bush spine implants?
profitsbeard on September 3, 2010 at 1:18 PM
maybe but from their statements and actions it appears they did it not out of policy difference but out of desire to reclaim power. i mean alot of those people voting NO for obamacare were a couple years ago singing the prasies of rommneycare and the mandate. If a President Mitt would have put the bill up on the floor there would have been alot of RINO’s voting for it.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:21 PM
In which case we need as many Rs as we can get, RINO or not.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:23 PM
I fully understand the need to elect RINOs. I accept Scott Brown, I voted for Fiorina in California, and will gladly do so again… But I got to know, what core issues/values does Castle share with us that makes him a RINO?
El_Terrible on September 3, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Christie is the epitome of going from the penthouse to the outhouse in one idiotic statement. Christie proves if they are a politician, they cannot be trusted. He may be a fiscal conservative, but after that just another politician doing what they do best….lie and deceive.
volsense on September 3, 2010 at 1:23 PM
You don’t get it. If the GOP gets majority control they control the freaking judiciary committee.
Bradky on September 3, 2010 at 1:11 PM
all the GOp needs is 41 conservative sneators to control the SCOTUS picks. It is called a filibuster. the fact that the senate is infested with RINo’s more than willing to vote for the POTUS picks to get through is the problem not the fact we don’t have 50.
you want better SCOTUS judges elect a conservative POTUS not a slim majority GOp Senate filled with RINO’s
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:24 PM
Purity 2010 >> Repeal 2012
RINO 2010 >> RINO 2012
faraway on September 3, 2010 at 1:24 PM
Castle voted against the stimulus and Obamacare to avoid this primary. End of story. At any other time he would have found a way to vote for them. What is Castle’s answer to repealing Obamacare? ” Well, MAYBE, in a couple years if we win the presidency and congress.” MAYBE? With the Rs controlling all three branches of government the best the guy can come up with is a maybe? He’s a liberal. He’s running for office this year and he’s an R so he will give you a maybe. But that maybe goes away right after the election.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 1:26 PM
I’m a little confused by this map. It’s listing several Palin endorsements that happened after the race was either won or lost, which makes sense for those who won a primary and now have to win the election, but for those who lost? Are their dates wrong or something?
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:26 PM
Satan: give me your soul and I will give you power.
Castle: give me your vote and i might give you a mirage of power.
yeap a great deal. come get it while it lasts folks….
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Yeah. Christie’s a RINO or something – he’s just been kicking Democrat a** up and down the Garden State all year, but becuase he sees electoral reality in DE for what it is, he can’t be trusted.
Check.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 1:28 PM
I think she’ll sit this one out, a la Nevada, and let the primary decide.
Kinda OT, but they need to update the site to show Miller in the “win” column rather than yet to be determined IMO.
cs89 on September 3, 2010 at 1:29 PM
No, the Democrat that will win the seat if Castle’s not in the race is a liberal.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 1:29 PM
So is the De primary a future look on what to expect from the RINO’s in the 2012 primaries.
Mitt elect me I can win!
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Filibusters are not effective.
So you’d rather hand it to the person you know will definitely vote against repeal?
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:31 PM
How about you think a little more on it. The only way to achieve a LT rating of 56 over 17 individual rating periods is either a) to be close enough to 56 over most of them or b) be high on a lot of them to offset many low ones. Since all the individual ones aren’t readily available and having a good impression of Castle, I’ll bet on the former.
And sure his 2008 rating is 28. I’d like to note two things here. One, that can mean two things — either he has gone as high as 80+/- once or b) has usually been above 56 quite a number of times. Two, it shows he’s persuadable, when it he’s free of elections.
All in all, he’s a moderate and persuadable. As for key votes, ACU bases their rating on what they think key votes are and those should be a reasonable measure shouldn’t they?
Dusty on September 3, 2010 at 1:31 PM
Kinda OT, but they need to update the site to show Miller in the “win” column rather than yet to be determined IMO.
cs89 on September 3, 2010 at 1:29 PM
give them time their still in the grief stage and haven’t moved onto acceptence yet.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:32 PM
Filibusters are not effective.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:31 PM
LOL tell that to judge Bork and Herrirt Myers
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:33 PM
Apparently, some people here didn’t get the message that it was settled.
Vyce on September 3, 2010 at 1:36 PM
I see Allah is back in the “cheap seats” again today! :-)
UltimateBob on September 3, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Yeah. Christie’s a RINO or something – he’s just been kicking Democrat a** up and down the Garden State all year, but becuase he sees electoral reality in DE for what it is, he can’t be trusted.
Check.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 1:28 PM
hey if I lived in NJ I would vote to relect christie as gov in a hearbeat given the choices I have. But from a antional view I would never cast a vote for Christie after his 3 strikes of the last month on immigrations , the GZM, and now Castle.
One it shows he is liberalist on many things like Bush but more importantly is shows he is stupid form a politcal sense and does not know when to keep his mouth shut.
he did not need nor did anyone want him to speak on immgration nor the GZM.
i’m sure the Mitt gang of RINO’s asked for his endorsement for Castle but still from a national preceptive it was akin to Palin endorsing mcCain without having her excuse of loyalty to protect him.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Right, neither of which were filibustered.
Abby Adams on September 3, 2010 at 1:39 PM
I’m not handing anything to anybody. The DE R party did when they went all out to back a liberal and try to stifle any Conservative movement. I’m not in Delaware but if I were I would vote against whoever is running against Castle. When they lost I would start looking to see what movies are playing on election day because I’m going to have lots of time on my hands. Because I’m not voting for a liberal.
I’m in Connecticut. I will vote for McMahon, barring some weird occurrence, even though I have little doubt she will be Rinoish. But at least she has no track record so I can give her the benefit of the doubt. But if the CT R party had treated Simmons they way they are O’Donnell, chiefly because she’s a conservative, I can pretty much guarantee McMahon wouldn’t be getting my vote on election day.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 1:39 PM
Well, the fat
ladyman has finally sung, and we see the douchetastic face on the back of the rotund Christie. I guess we had to wait for one full rotation of the planetary governor to see the dark side–first his holier than thou piety on the mosque issue and now his boner for so-called “electable” RINOs. What’s next, support for suing Arizona and the repeal of states rights?It’s been said before, but GO CHRISTINE2010!!! Storm the crappy castle with some JoeMiller mojo.
Western_Civ on September 3, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Irrelevant. That DE senate seat isn’t up for a vote in 2012. It’s up for a vote in 2010.
Here’s how it should read by facing reality:
60-80 Pure/40-20 Rino in 2010 >> Partway there
60-80 Pure/40-20 Rino in 2012 >> For the Win!
Dusty on September 3, 2010 at 1:41 PM
First off the term RINO is overused. It overlooks the many compromises and finagling that need to occur for almost any bill to pass.But hey, if you want a lot of pretty good right of center people to say “you know what maybe I’ll have more influence if I just go ahead and join the Democrats” go right ahead with the mischaracterizations this term has caused.
Second, I would submit that you are a bit naive if you think any party will or has ever gotten all “purists” in control.
Bradky on September 3, 2010 at 1:41 PM
I haven’t read this whole thread and perhaps someone has already said it, but 18 months ago Chris Christie was the “RINO” in the New Jersey Governor’s race being opposed by another far-right perennial candidate, Steve Lonegan. A few people here even argued for voting for Lonegan in the primary. He would never have won a general election in New Jersey. A few hard-core wingnuts didn’t care and voted for Lonegan anyway, but most everyone finally got behind Christie as the best chance to win and turn the state around. I’m guessing that one reason he decided to endorse Castle is that he sees this race as similiar to his own.
rockmom on September 3, 2010 at 1:43 PM
A strong minority is better than a weak majority.
Too many hit pieces on O’Donnell all at once…….coincidence?
lilium on September 3, 2010 at 1:43 PM
This reminds me of Ron Paul voters – if your wackjob candidate can’t win the primary then it’s better for your political enemies to win the general in order to teach the electorate a lesson. So in their minds possibly irreparable damage to the health of the country is a net good. On the other hand I believe that most Paulbots are/were just Dems pretending to be conservatives anyway. In either case they are getting exactly what they want, which is more wins for Democrats.
JimRich on September 3, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Miers was a horrible pick that the base rejected, not the minority Democrats. The Dems didn’t like her either, but they’re not why Bush changed directions and withdrew her nomination (at her request).
Bork wasn’t filibustered either. He was rejected at his confirmation hearing after being borked.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:47 PM
I think you might be right. There is a shadowy cabal of bloggers/so-called “conservative” journalists that want to win a Senate seat for the GOP, rather than have the Dems control it for 6 years. They are really just evil, shifty bastards.
You’re ideas intrigue me, and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Abby Adams on September 3, 2010 at 1:48 PM
The ACU also includes the procedural votes. He’s up and down, inconsistent. Why? Because he changes gears in election years. As a member of the House that means every other year so it evens out for him. As the member of the Senate he will face election 1 in 6 years. So his rating is about to go in the toilet. If he wasn’t persuadable in off years in the House he will be even less so in the Senate.
O’Donnell may be the worst candidate ever but that doesn’t make what she has listed here about Castle untrue. I don’t see a moderates record here.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 1:49 PM
This is the same problem liberals are currently facing. Not all Americans want conservativism as you’d describe it, just as not all of us wanted liberalism. You can’t force this on people who don’t want it. Not all politics is national.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Oh hell no. This is all coming directly from the DE GOP. They wanted to pretend that Christine didn’t exist but now she has become too big of a threat to ignore. Instead of Castle coming out and debating Christine and telling voters why they should vote for him, they resort to this gutter BS. It’s disgusting what they have done to this woman and it saddens me that so many here have bought into the BS that she can in no way win the general. Obviously, if it was a given that she would lose the general, more would support Castle over her, but that is not the case. She is within striking distance and it’s better to take the risk with her than to send Castle to the Senate to make life a living hell for conservatives for the forseeable future.
Joe Caps on September 3, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Right, neither of which were filibustered.
Abby Adams on September 3, 2010 at 1:39 PM
your correct Bork lost 42-58 in the Senate. My memory was wrong. with 6 RINO’s voting against him with Senators John Chafee (R-RI), Bob Packwood (R-OR), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Robert Stafford (R-VT), John Warner (R-VA) and Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R-CT).
hmm wonder how Caslte would have voted.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:53 PM
I keep seeing comments saying that Rep. Castle voted for Obamacare, I didn’t think any Republicans voted for it. Are those comment just based on him not wanting it repealed? He sure sounds like he has bought Global Warming hook, line and sinker.
Cindy Munford on September 3, 2010 at 1:53 PM
As far as this “Delaware’s a blue state, move on already” canard – that plays right into the hands of those who would continue to divide this country along blue and red lines. We shouldn’t just give up on states simply because they’re blue. We should fight evil wherever it resides. It’s cowardly to abandon our fellow conservatives and Tea Partiers just because they happen to live in a blue state.
We need to unify the country across all states with a resounding message of conservatism – even if we don’t win every state. The GOP must be reformed or, even if we win some battles, we will lose the war.
fossten on September 3, 2010 at 1:54 PM
How exactly? What’s the benefit to being out of power?
If we’d been in power, even with a ton of RINOs, there’s no way ObamaCare would have passed. Does everyone realize this? In fact, with a Republican majority, maybe we could have pushed the discussion to real reforms that could actually improve the health insurance industry, thus helping to ensure that socialized medicine will never be a consideration in this country.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:55 PM
I guess this proves Chris Christie isn’t infallible.
Dr Evil on September 3, 2010 at 1:56 PM
Cindy, he didn’t vote for ObamaCare. Some people just believe he won’t vote to repeal it, because he’s said that he’ll consider it if we get a Republican president but that it won’t likely work without one.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Abby Adams on September 3, 2010 at 1:39 PM
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:47 PM
While the 2 examples I used were incorrect it still does not disprove my point that filibuster can and will stop judge nominations.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Probably because those people have had their view of conservatism defined by the media, just as most liberals have their view of liberalism described by the same. One is inherently evil, the other inherently good.
Of course in the real world we know which is which.
darwin on September 3, 2010 at 2:00 PM
He didn’t vote for it but he was undecided until like a week before the vote. Anybody who suggests that Castle will vote for repeal either works for him or is sniffing glue. HE WILL NOT VOTE FOR REPEAL. PERIOD.
Re: global warming – he wrote me a letter in response to a letter from me telling me that we need carbon taxes otherwise delaware will go underwater. Seriously.
Joe Caps on September 3, 2010 at 2:00 PM
There lies part of the problem. Categorizing entire blocs of people as evil because they don’t see all issues the same as you has the tendency to drive them away rather than attract them. It is no fairer than having all GOP’ers categorized as uncaring big business tools.
Like life politics is much more complicated than the purists are willing to admit. Politics is local and not every area is a hotbed of conservativism, nor will they likely be so for the forseeable future.
So the question at the end of the day is “Do you support candidates who are in general lined up with most of the ideas you believe in or do you shun them on a distorted sense of principle?”.
Bradky on September 3, 2010 at 2:00 PM
That’s the dumbest part of this debate. It’s always they won’t vote for a red state conservative. Well fine. Is it too much to ask for a blue state conservative? Hell I’d vote for Harry Reid before he was Majority leader. He was more conservative than Mike Castle.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 2:00 PM
I couldn’t find a poll of how Delawareans feel about ObamaCare or Cap and Trade… If they support them then Castle IS the best we can do but if a R is polling ahead of the D in DE because DE hates both then I say go for it with O’Donnell!
CCRWM on September 3, 2010 at 2:01 PM
So did Newt.
And I don’t think people are going to accuse him of being a liberal.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 2:02 PM
Too many hit pieces on O’Donnell all at once…….coincidence?
lilium on September 3, 2010 at 1:43 PM
see miller. the GOp establishment is taking no chances of O’donnell doing a miller and are going on the attack….it is really that simple. the Miller/Murk election awoke the RINO establishment.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:03 PM
You’ve mischaracterized what I’ve said. I didn’t say blocs of people were evil – I was referring to liberalism. It is evil and needs to be fought.
If you’re saying that all politics are local and DE should be abandoned because it’s blue, then you’re playing into the hands of the dividers.
fossten on September 3, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Very simplistic view in my opinion. Since 1968 we have had Republican presidents for 28 of those 42 years. Why? Is it because citizens are really as one dimensional as you paint them?
Evil versus good is not a good way to influence fence sitters. Tell someone they are evil because of the party they are registered with and it shouldn’t surprise you they will resist reason. Do the harder thing and persuade them how your party better represents their interests and they may just be persuaded.
Bradky on September 3, 2010 at 2:04 PM
This is the same problem liberals are currently facing. Not all Americans want conservativism as you’d describe it, just as not all of us wanted liberalism. You can’t force this on people who don’t want it. Not all politics is national.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 1:50 PM
That’s the dumbest part of this debate. It’s always they won’t vote for a red state conservative. Well fine. Is it too much to ask for a blue state conservative? Hell I’d vote for Harry Reid before he was Majority leader. He was more conservative than Mike Castle.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 2:00 PM
the answer of course is limited smaller gov so the choices DE voters make do not impact NC voters. the government as envisioned by the founders would only be able to tackle the issues that aq vast majority of the public could agree on. hence the filibuster, the seperation of powers, the listing of what they could do and what they couldn’t.
the Federal government by design was only suppose to function when the vast majority of people agreed on the outcome.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:06 PM
I think it proves that Chris Christie is a REALIST. And I’m thankful for that, becuase we need realists in the party – not just idealists.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Castle’s battle cry:
Slightly better than a Democrat!
Yeah, that’ll get the troops fired up.
novaculus on September 3, 2010 at 2:07 PM
Laughable. We’ve already gotten rid of Arlen Specter, Bob Bennett, and Lisa Murkowski. We’ve run Charlie Crist out of the party. We have real conservatives running and vbery likely winning in California, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania (!), Florida, Arkansas, and Alaska. The next Senate Republican Caucus will be the most conservative ever, but they need to add Mike Castle and Mark Kirk to be a majority.
And don’t forget that Harry Reid may lose, but if Democrats keep the majority there will be someone even worse taking his place, either Dick Durbin or Chuck Schumer. I don’t think America can survive another two years with either one of those evil socialists running the Senate.
Stop making the perfect the enemy of the great. We need that seat in Delaware and O’Donnell can’t win it.
rockmom on September 3, 2010 at 2:07 PM
…or it could be that the “tea party candidate” O’Donnell is a joke and will get slaughtered in a general election by the Democrat.
But whatevs. Let’s get that Democrat in there. It’s important to ‘send a message’ to the GOP establishment by shooting off your own foot.
Good Lt on September 3, 2010 at 2:08 PM
I said they weren’t effective, and now you’ve presented my evidence.
these same nominees began to be moved through the now Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.[11]
Delaying a confirmation until the other party gets more seats doesn’t really help anyone. And it’s a dirty tactic anyway.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
This race could be the line in the sand.
Are you really a conservative? Do you really mean it? Or do you just want power?
faraway on September 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Scott Brown won his primary- Castle didn’t. He does not deserve conservative support.
Valiant on September 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Stop making the perfect the enemy of the great. We need that seat in Delaware and O’Donnell can’t win it.
rockmom on September 3, 2010 at 2:07 PM
If that is the case why has Castle and his cronyies decided to attack O’donnell on her character and not the issues?
Painting your opponent as an evil uneducated wack job all in a days work but why isn’t the primary about the issues? why must the RINO GOP stoop to character assination on O’donnell. If she was so out of the mainstream on the issues don’t you think Castle would be attacking her on say her wanting to repeal Obamacare or her saying she would vote no on cap and tax or her stance on abortion?
the fac tis that Castle and company know that they can not win on the issues that a large section of the DE gop would vote for O’donnell on the issues and therefore they must attack her character.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:12 PM
Sure! The closer they get to their election the more conservative they will become. That’s not to say that someone like Graham should not be voted out if you have a good candidate running against him in the primary.
Vince on September 3, 2010 at 2:13 PM
Delaying a confirmation until the other party gets more seats doesn’t really help anyone. And it’s a dirty tactic anyway.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 2:11 PM
It worked. Bush didn’t get his picks. the miunority dems showed that a united minority was able to stop a slim majority.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Even if they feel this way because of misinformation, it doesn’t change the fact that they feel this way. Pushing a redder politician, especially one that doesn’t appear to be the best candidate for the job, isn’t likely to convince them they are wrong.
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Virtually the entire media is controlled by the left. Most people who aren’t political junkies will base their opinions of parties and current events based on what the media tells them. I’m not saying people can’t decide for themselves, but many rely on what they’re told. Ask people who don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh what he’s like and they’ll tell you he’s an evil, racist, greedy warmonger. The only frame of reference they have is what they’ve been told. The same applies to most people. If you don’t know anything about a person or certain subject, you’ll more than likely base your opinions on what you’ve heard whether it’s true of not.
I never said to tell people anything. I said that how the media portrays the two parties. Broken down into it’s essence … they tell people Republicans are evil and the democrats are saints. The media implies, if not outright, that the Republicans are evil everyday of the week.
darwin on September 3, 2010 at 2:16 PM
Do you actually have some proof on that?
Esthier on September 3, 2010 at 2:16 PM
So the RINO ‘s case for Castle. elect him he can win and don’t vote for her she is evil, uneducated wack job.
Hmm that sounds like Mitt’s campaign in a nutshell.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:18 PM
All I was doing was stating an opinion. I’m staying out of Delaware, too depressing. Castle looks likes he’s about to croak and probably as corrupt as they come.
darwin on September 3, 2010 at 2:19 PM
looks like Christie is building a base of support for his Presidential bid.
Jed_Eckert on September 3, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Illegals, Radical Imams and RINOs?
darwin on September 3, 2010 at 2:22 PM
I googled O’Donnell and couldn’t find anything wacky about her that I could believe. A lot of the stuff came from HuffPo. The only thing I could see was that she is in debt, as am I!
Vince on September 3, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Um, I don’t know…maybe it’s because she has bad character. Since when did conservatives stop caring about character? I saw that video where she coyly says “well, that’s the rumor” when asked directly about the gay smear of Castle. Now who is attacking someone on character? Spreading a rumor that Mike Castle is gay is talking about the issues? And what about her paying her rent with campaign funds? It doesn’t bother you that this woman is apparently runing for Senate because she is broke and needs the job? We don’t need people like that representing conservatives. Period.
Not if she happens to be an uneducated wackjob. Why should Castle engage an unserious opponent on the issues?
Oy. The first rule of politics is that if your opponent is ridiculous, you ridicule him. You don’t engage on the issues.
rockmom on September 3, 2010 at 2:23 PM
It was a little silly but yes, Harry Reid has a A rating from the NRA. So I can at least count on one Conservative vote out of the guy. Can you point to one thing Mike Castle can reliably be counted on to vote conservatively on? And military spending doesn’t count. Any politician, from either party, is going to protect the military spending in their state. Even Chris Dodd did that.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 2:27 PM
You remember Buckley’s rule: put forth the most conservative electable candidate.
Tzetzes on September 3, 2010 at 2:28 PM
Castle will win.
O’Donnell will not.
If the GOP were looking at 43 seats, or 63, I’d say primary the guy, get rid of him, start over.
Not sure she’s the right candidate even then, but there’d be little downside to the loss.
But right now we’re too close to 51. That 51st seat matters.
JEM on September 3, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Yes but he didn’t put any more emphasis on electable than he did on conservative. Castle isn’t even sort of conservative. Castle is exactly like the Rockefeller Republicans Buckley spent so many years trying to overcome in the Republican party. In other words, a liberal.
Rocks on September 3, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Oy. The first rule of politics is that if your opponent is ridiculous, you ridicule him. You don’t engage on the issues.
rockmom on September 3, 2010 at 2:23 PM
I don’t know…seen this story before. Many times. the rino’s always try to paint their opponents as wack jobs. Rand Paul, sharron Angle, Palin, Haley, Handel, Scot in FL.
I do find it kind of funny that the RINO’s only discovered how big of a wack job O’donnell was after the Miller election. It’s almost like they got scared and kind of throw all kinds of nasty smears at christine to prevent another Miller outcome……but you know believe the media if you want and believe the semars if you want. It’s not like they were ever wrong or helped elect any other candidate…
so don’t worry about things like cap and trade, obamacare. illegal immiagration, abortion, gov spending, budget’s I’m sure the non wack job Castle will make the correct choice when it comes time to vote on it……
It is a rule in politics when you are losing on the issues you attack the character. I AM surprised that so many are falling for the same old play.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:31 PM
I drove through Delaware once … then I was in another state. That’s all I remember.
darwin on September 3, 2010 at 2:32 PM
It’s not a matter of how he votes. It’s a matter of swinging the leadership over to the GOP.
Then evil bills don’t get out of committee (well, at least fewer do.)
Then the White House doesn’t even send the Sonia Sotomayors up because they know they’ll go nowhere.
Take the gimme. Take the safe bet. And work on McConnell to make sure, should the Senate flip, the important committee appointments go to the right people.
JEM on September 3, 2010 at 2:34 PM
unseen – Oh, I worry about carbon regulation and the rest of that list – well, not quite, I don’t worry a lot about abortion. It shouldn’t be a federal issue but it’s not something I’m going to sacrifice an election over.
The consideration here is that you send up a Mike Castle and he might vote the wrong way on some of those. Sure.
You send up the Democrat and you’re guaranteed a wrong vote on all of them.
And if that Delaware Democrat keeps the Senate leadership from flipping to the GOP, you’re going to see a lot more bad bills and bad nominations coming through committee than if the GOP gets to 51.
JEM on September 3, 2010 at 2:39 PM
And many fools were saying he should run in 2012….
Tim Burton on September 3, 2010 at 2:40 PM
We may be stuck with some RINO’s for a while and, if so, we had better focus on pressuring that GOP jello to lean in the right direction. The more conservatives we have on the team, the more effective that pressure can be on the bench warmers. I wouldn’t vote for Castle in DE, but I’m not in DE, so my suggestion is to lean on him, hard, if he wins.
Extrafishy on September 3, 2010 at 2:46 PM
Then evil bills don’t get out of committee (well, at least fewer do.)
Then the White House doesn’t even send the Sonia Sotomayors up because they know they’ll go nowhere.
Take the gimme. Take the safe bet. And work on McConnell to make sure, should the Senate flip, the important committee appointments go to the right people.
JEM on September 3, 2010 at 2:34 PM
That is what they said in 2004 with Sepctor. Sometimes the gimme is not worth it.
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:50 PM
You send up the Democrat and you’re guaranteed a wrong vote on all of them.
And if that Delaware Democrat keeps the Senate leadership from flipping to the GOP, you’re going to see a lot more bad bills and bad nominations coming through committee than if the GOP gets to 51.
JEM on September 3, 2010 at 2:39 PM
then you run against the democrat in the next election. what is plan B when Castle doesn’t vote the way you like? challenge him in a primary? Oh wait we are at plan b….so what’s plan C?
Castle is Jeffords and Spector rolled into one. If I lived in De I would vote on the issues and th candidate that best confirms with my views on the issues nto on wether they will win or not. sometimes trying to out think things leads to more problems. See Spector
unseen on September 3, 2010 at 2:54 PM
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