Sarah Palin- and Tea Party-Backed Candidate Scores Upset in Delaware
The Murkowski effect initially felt in Juneau, Alaska has now been felt almost 3,000 straight line miles away in Dover, Del.
For those who missed the news around the end of August, incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was effectively booted out of office after losing her Republican Senate primary race to attorney Joe Miller, a political newcomer who had the very vocal backing of former governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express PAC.
Fast forward to just after 9:00 PM EST on Tuesday night, and the influence of Palin and the Tea Party may have made itself heard quite loudly once again in the Delaware Republican Senate primary between political commentator Christine O’Donnell and nine-term Congressman, GOP establishment favorite, and former governor Mike Castle. At 9:08 PM Tuesday, USA Today reported that the Palin- and Tea Party-backed O’Donnell scored the upset in the quest for the Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden.
I suppose this begs the question: Is this potentially the start of, not so much a new Republican revolution, but a Sarah Palin-led Tea Party revolution? I say, not necessarily.
While it seems likely that significant Republican gains will be made on November 2, Delaware may not be a sure thing. Hell...as I write this, I just heard former George W. Bush administration Chief of Staff Karl Rove tell Sean Hannity (and I genuinely feel unclean at the mere thought that I found myself actually watching Hannity) that he was unimpressed with O’Donnell. Considering how generally unpopular Rove is outside of the GOP, this might be saying something.
Not even 20 minutes after news of O’Donnell’s victory broke, ABC News reported that Mike Castle’s defeat “immediately casts doubt on GOP chances of winning the Senate seat” and that it “could close the door on a Republican effort to gain control of the Senate in November.” It was further indicated that it remains to be seen whether the Republican machine in Delaware will come around and support O’Donnell after an eternity razzing her and “whether the intraparty attacks will hurt her candidacy in the general election.”
My answer to that is: Of course it will, but hey...what the deuce? I might be wrong.
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