Subject: Teas PArty Triumph
From: "Michael Andrews" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:27:54 -0400

Tea Party triumph
Published: September 15 2010 22:01 | Last updated: September 15 2010  
22:01
Republican voters in Delaware’s Senate primary on Tuesday gave the  
beleaguered Democratic party the best news it has had for months. They  
nominated Christine O’Donnell, who was backed by Tea Party activists  
and by Sarah Palin, queen of the anti-incumbent insurgency – and thus,  
in all likelihood, handed a Senate seat they would have won in  
November back to the other side.

Odd choices have been far from rare in this campaign, but Ms  
O’Donnell’s nomination sets a demanding new standard for stupidity.  
Her history is erratic: she has struggled for years with debt and with  
the Internal Revenue Service, and has been accused by fellow  
Republicans of mismanagement. She fought a dirty campaign against Mike  
Castle, her Republican rival, that alienated mainstream Republicans.  
Her positions on sexual morality might be seen as stern in Utah or  
Mississippi. Unfortunately, Delaware is a liberal, north-eastern state.

EDITOR’S CHOICE
Focus shifts right as Tea Party triumphs - Sep-15

In depth: US midterm elections- Sep-15

Tea Party wins Delaware Senate vote - Sep-15

Blow for school reformers as DC mayor defeated - Sep-15

Delaware poised to deliver shock Senate pick - Sep-14

Obama: Popularity peaks and troughs - Aug-26

Before the primary, the moderate Mr Castle had been expected to swing  
the state formerly represented by vice-president Joe Biden over to the  
Republicans without much trouble. Many Republicans now write it off as  
unwinnable.

If Republicans do as well nationally as they hope to in November, they  
will challenge Democratic control not just in the House but also in  
the Senate, where the rotation of seats makes that task harder. Along  
with Nevada, where the Tea Party revived Democratic hopes by  
nominating another bad candidate (though Sharron Angle looks  
impressive in comparison with Ms O’Donnell), Delaware could make the  
difference.

There is more at stake than even the Senate race. With this  
nomination, anti-incumbent feeling among grass-roots Republicans has  
set the party against itself. Ms O’Donnell, hitherto an embarrassing  
curiosity (or a promising one, according to your point of view), is  
now a national figure and will face a media onslaught. Democrats will  
cast her as the face of the new Republicans – a strategy that might  
bring moderates and independents back to the fold, or at least  
diminish their zeal to vote.

The implications also extend to Ms Palin’s future role. Many  
conservative Republicans, to say nothing of moderate ones, are furious  
that she intervened in Ms O’Donnell’s favour. If this nomination does  
as much harm to the party as Democrats hope, this will not be  
forgotten – and the prospects for uniting the party in a way that  
includes her and her fans will be that much worse.