The people cheering Christine O’Donnell’s victory in the Delaware Senate primary include Tea Partiers and Democrats. Tea Partiers, because they sent a message to the GOP establishment. Democrats, because a seat that was a likely loss is suddenly a likely win.

And make no mistake: voters probably handed a Senate seat to Democrats last night. Castle voters were polled and said they prefer the Democrat 2-1 over O’Donnell. It’s not impossible for her to win if the stars align just right. But wishing upon the stars works in the movies; in real life, not so much.

After O’Donnell’s victory, Sarah Palin issued a call for “unity” among Republicans. I fully support this and support candidate O’Donnell. She has deep flaws, but I’d rather see my flawed candidate in the Senate than the other side’s flawed candidate.

However, I can tell you that Palin’s “unity” directive is going to be hard to implement.

Part of the problem is the Republican establishment, which let slip the fact that they do not intend to give O’Donnell a cent to pursue her quixotic ambitions. The decision not to fund her mostly hopeless candidacy is defensible. The decision to announce that decision on election night is unforgivable.

If O’Donnell loses — I’m thinking “when” but saying “if” for the sake of our “unity” — Tea Partiers will not look for blame in the mirror. Establishment Republicans have given them a ready-made scapegoat, and they will flog it all the way to 2012.

Another part of the problem lies in the insufferable gloating of O’Donnell supporters over what was a fairly predictable primary victory. It does not foster “unity” to declare that O’Donnell beat “Mike Castle, Allahpundit, Charles Krauthammer, and Jim Geraghty.” It does not foster “unity” to label Paul Mirengoff a “loser” who needs to wear a dress for noting the obvious obstacles O’Donnell faces. If Twitter is any reflection of the mood among conservatives, I saw civil war last night. The Levin acolytes going around mimicking his name-calling behavior are hardly seeking “unity.”

With all their toldya so’s, you’d think these people had won the general election instead of handing it to the opposition.

If Sarah Palin truly seeks “unity,” at some point she is going to need to rein these people in.

No matter what happens, there is one silver lining, and it was expressed well here last night by DRJ in our chat:

Short version: O’Donnell has to strike fear in every moderate GOP politician’s soul. Good.

That may be all we get out of this. Is it worth it? Maybe it is.