Christine O'Donnell's victory over Mike Castle has sent shockwaves throughout the political discussion. Conservatives and TEA party sympathizers have largely been estatic about the victory while the remaining commentators have been near universally convinced that this is a disaster for the GOP. Here are legitimate reasons why the remaining commentators are right:
1. O'Donnell is a HORRIBLY, FATALLY flawed candidate. Don't take my word for it. Read these articles at the Weekly Standard. Any of these issues can sink her.
2. Most recent polling had Castle a safe 10 points ahead of Coons, while O'Donnell was floundering at 16 points behind. This in and of itself isn't an entirely compelling reason except for the fact that...
3. Mike Castle is about as centrist as they come. He's a squishy moderate. Which means he's unreliable, but...
4. Chris Coons is a self-proclaimed Marxist. This isn't liberal versus liberal, this is centrist versus leftist.
So we're trading in a candidate opposed to Obama-care, opposed to the stimulus, and who would give the Republicans the possible deciding vote in the Senate in exchange for a candidate who's horribly flawed but pure in principle, the result being the ushering in of another leftist into the Senate.
Now, at this point I have to say that it's imperative that we back O'Donnell. She needs support. But this means we're expending resources on a race that would otherwise have been well funded and locked up. My objection is not that we have a conservative in a liberal state. It's entirely that we have a hopelessly flawed candidate who happens to be conservative. Perhaps now the Republican party establishment will recognize that the people are demanding more than what the party is putting forward as the solution.
