Big night for tea party: O'Donnell wins Delaware

Yahoo is reporting

"Virtually unknown a month ago, Christine O'Donnell has ridden a surge of support from tea party activists to victory in the Delaware Republican Senate primary. It's an upset as stunning as any other in a season of recession and political upheaval."

Anyone who thinks the GOP is behind the Tea Party movement really should rethink their DailyKos talking points:

"In an extraordinary move, the state Republican Party began automated phone calls attacking O’Donnell in the campaign’s final hours."

Airhead

It is very telling how partisan Dems want their candidates to face traditional Repub candidates, and not any of those endorsed by the Tea Party movement.

Not afraid of a little 'change' - - are we?

Hmm, all very unexpected.... Can these unknowns win without party backing?

Dems want their candidates to face traditional Repub candidates

When worthless airheads show they can beat them, why wouldn't they?

When worthless airheads show they can beat them, why wouldn't they?

Joe Biden is not an airhead !

Tea party favorite O'Donnell wins# in Delaware

: wins the primary

(Not the same thing as winning the election. Not at all.)

A suicidal nomination of an unelectable space cadet. Great stuff.

I'd say Major Nelson and Major Healy (aka John and Mitch) and their friends have less than two months to get their genie back in the bottle. And then two more years trying to keep it there. The best laid plans of mice and men....

"A second insurgent led for the GOP nomination in New Hampshire"

So the Tea Party candidates are insurgents! They must be slaughtered, ha ha ha!

"Air head"

Sure, when the candidate you despise wins, just insult them, ha ha!

A suicidal nomination of an unelectable space cadet. Great stuff.

Totally Agreed, The Republicans are going to have field day using Charlie Rangel's ethic charges as an example of this what this Democratic congress is all about during the general election.

"A suicidal nomination of an unelectable space cadet."

Now you understand how we felt watching Obama's establishment media-enabled rise.

Sorry Tim but my comment does not apply to Obama.

He was, obviously, electable!

Sorry but compared to her Democrat rivals in and for the Senate candidate O'Donnell is no less flaky than Bernie Sanders, or Babs Boxer, or Barney Frank, or the young Barack O'Bama - - who had his first two opponents in local politics removed from the ballot by some pretty devious legal means.

And now, this - -

"Political novice and tea party ally Carl Paladino has beaten the Republican designee in the race for the party’s nomination for New York governor."

Heh. RINO's are become an endangered species...

Now you understand how we felt watching Obama's establishment media-enabled rise.

LOL!!! :-D

What? The GOP is getting butt-whipped by a gaggle of cheap imitators? :-)

Tea Party!? Raving Loony Party more like.

Thin-skinned liberal posters only know how to insult people like the Tea Party candidates. Base your arguements of substance, not name calling...

If the tea party people win more primaries, the GOP is likely to implode for the schism. I would like to see more independents getting elected on their personal merits, but all I see from the tea (unofficial) party is complete silliness and irresponsibility, and that includes the people here supporting them.

What? The GOP is getting butt-whipped by a gaggle of cheap imitators? :-)

Wait, you condemn the GOP for their liberal fiscal policies, which Obama has outdone in every way. And when those people you condemn get tossed out of office, this is what you come up with? Castle is one of those people you hate. A GOP loon. Look back on his voting record. Theres never been a spending bill he didn't like. Add is vote for Cap and Tax, and its completely understandable why the conservative Republicans would rather have someone who better represents them. That should make you happy too right? I mean, she is someone who will vote against all the deficit spending you hate. Er, wait, Obama again. Nevermind. You hate it when Republicans are in charge, but are fine with it when your boy Obama is.

"Her victory set off a round of accusations and fingerpointing inside and outside the GOP."

BINGO! It's quite hilarious to watch the GOP fall apart, as predicted they would, when a bunch of their mindless followers decided to go with the tea-party movement instead. This is great -- it means the GOP will not be able to take back the Senate, and it will hopefully show that these lunatics in the tea-party cannot be followed or trusted. They lie about being under-cover police, lie about houses they've bought, and half their ranks want the other half to quit because they are handing the Dems wins through the tea-partiers' DISGUSTING comments and extreme points of view.

This is absolutely hilarious. Almost funnier still are the Republicans on this thread trying to avoid the consequences of this women being elected (and that they can't support both) by constantly trying to shift the focus of any 'argument' they present onto Obama and/or the Dems.

I just can't say that I really understand it. How can you say you're from a party when the party actually works against your election? Are they just hijacking the Republican ticket so they don't have to deal with the stigma of being labeled as an Independent? Maybe I just don't understand how one becomes affiliated with a party....? Can someone 'splain it to me?

Whenever either U.S. party gets hijacked by its extreme wing (c.f. Goldwater in 1964) they take stock after their resounding defeat and, like the Terminator, reform by the time of the next election. Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, Ralph Nader, Gus Hall & Angela Davis and the other 3rd party candidates have never been able to make much of a dent in the mainstream party factions, because the latter have too much money and influence to be moved to deviate from the status quo. In fact, that's what the tea party is really about -- rebellion against the status quo. Nothing new under the sun.

SuperLib: "I just can't say that I really understand it. How can you say you're from a party when the party actually works against your election?"

That's why it's somewhat comical to watch some posters on here trying to defend BOTH the GOP and the tea-party extremists -- they are literally fighting against themselves, and this is usually why they immediately try to start harping on Dems instead. Of course, both the GOP and the 'insurgents' (tea-party) are Republicans in name, but they differ quite a bit, and like many people said when the dolt Sarah Palin when don't in flames behind McCain, the Republican party will tear itself apart. That seems to be what's happening now.

In fact, I was just reading something about another Tea-Party upset in NY, where Paladino won the primary and is going to face Cuomo (something like that). The former said, to a lot of fanfare and cheers, that "Republicans have one choice, follow the will of the people or quit", suggesting indeed they have hijacked the party and are sending it to the extreme, extreme right. Either way, it's taking votes from the GOP and in some cases putting them in the hands of Dems (especially if the people have to choose between the tea-party nuts instead), so it's a good thing, ultimately.

"The former said, to a lot of fanfare and cheers, that "Republicans have one choice, follow the will of the people or quit", suggesting indeed they have hijacked the party and are sending it to the extreme, extreme right."

New York and "extreme, extreme right" ?

You are just here to troll, right ?

It will be good to see some of these Lib/Globalists at the breadline near you soon. I wonder what some of these ex career politicians will be able to do for work.

Thin-skinned liberal posters only know how to insult people like the Tea Party candidates. Base your arguements of substance, not name calling...

Tea Party is made up of a lot of raving loonies. And here's some substance about one of them, Sharron Angle:

She calls for a "press conference" and it last three minutes as she runs from questions. (http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/22/angle-runs-questions/)

She floated an "idea" that the people could "deal with" an "out-of-control Congress" using "Second-Amendment remedies." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/sharron-angle-floated-2nd_n_614003.html) If a radical leftist said that, the Tea Party loonies would be all over that call to violent insurrection.

Sharron the Whack-a-Doodle led a campaign against dark-colored football jerseys because of their satanic influences. (http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/77138/sharron-angle-versus-the-satanic-football-jersey)

Angle the complete nutcase and her advice to women who became pregnant upon being raped: "Turn lemons into lemonade." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/sharron-angles-advice-for_n_639294.html)

Here's a sample of one of Angle's recent speeches:

"I need your help to take back Nevada’s U.S. Senate seat from let’s-make-a-deal, tax-and-spend Harry Reid,” she said. “We know what’s at stake here and in our state and we’re ready for it. We know—that—it’s one of those, um, situations that Dick Morris (!!) spoke about. I was pleased to have Dick Morris sign the flyleaf of a book for my husband and it said in that flyleaf, ‘Dear Sharron and Ted, the fate of the nation rides on you.’"

Even all that won't be substance enough for some of the loonies who follow the Tea Party-ers.

Skip, is the tea party the kind of 3rd party you have been waiting for?

Molenir, yes, Obama spends big, but unlike his predecessor, most of Obama's spending initiatives have been targeted within U.S. borders, not so much on rebuilding or boosting the economies of other countries. That's a key reason I support most of Obama's spending initiatives. Sorry, if you would rather your tax dollars be thrown away on foreigners.

Castle is one of those people you hate. A GOP loon.

Yes, and so defeating him and winding up with a liberal Democrat in Congress is a much better thing. Thank you!!

As Jonathan Chait aptly puts it in The New Republic, the Republicans are paying dearly for 20 months of lies and hysterical propaganda:

"The conservative movement has spent the last 20 months sowing hysteria about President Obama's agenda. The most respectable Republicans call the president a socialist, a radical, a threat to freedom. The less respectable Republicans, many of them highly influential, call him an alien, a sympathizer of radical Islam, a conscious enemy of the United States who is trying to wreck the economy. Obama is a dangerous figure, he cannot be compromised with, and the fight against him is a twilight struggle to save the last vestiges of the Republic.

"And so it has been amusing to watch Republicans as they desperately attempted to persuade Republican voters in Delaware to support moderate Mike Castle over Christine O'Donnell. The political logic is obvious: Castle would have been a near shoo-in to win, while O'Donnell is a near shoo-in to lose. Castle may be a moderate, but half a loaf is better than none.

"The premise of all these pleas for Castle was extremely sensible: this is politics. Sometimes you move the ball forward, sometimes the other team moves it forward. Sometimes you make compromises in order to get ahead.

"But the Republican base has been taught not to think this way. This isn't just politics, remember? This is a twilight struggle for freedom. And Mike Castle didn't just cast a couple bad votes. He acquiesced in a sinister plan to undermine capitalism. How could they ever support a candidate like that?

"Moreover, Republican voters have luxuriated in the belief that they represent the true majority of the American people. Obama may have won by fooling the voters, or possibly by stealing the election with Acorn, but the enduring majority of the public is staunchly conservative. Indeed, Republicans only lost because they strayed from the true faith.

Now, most elite Republicans understand that the red meat fed to the base isn't exactly right. It's useful to scare the daylights out of the activists, but writers for the Standard and the Journal editorial page understand that "freedom," as most people understand the term, is not really at risk. They understand as well that politics is a little more complicated than "if Republicans stay true to conservatism, they cannot lose."

"But the conservative base is not in on the joke. And so Republican elites found themselves with just a few frantic days to undo the toxic and intoxicating effects of 20 months of relentless propaganda. Vote for the man who compromised with evil! The true conservative can't always win! They couldn't do it."

It's pretty funny seeing the tea party evolve out of a hellfire kickback against bush's out of control spending policies, and then start butt-whipping the Grand Old Party. The Right is splitting in 2 right before our eyes as the GOP continues purging its moderates and the tea party picks up the remnants. And the timing couldn't be better. This has been a great week for the Dems and America.

So how is this all going to play out? Go through a Tea Party disaster and watch Republicans return more to the center? Then the Democrats will somehow screw it all up?

Is Christine O'Donnell really an American? Has anyone seen her birth certificate? With a name like O'Donnell, she must be an Irish infiltraitor. She wasn't born outside the USA like John 'I don't know how many houses I have' McCain was, was she? :-)

2006 and 2008 were real bad years for Republicans. Looks like 2010 is going to be another year where the GOP gets their butt roasted and handed to them on a plate. :-)

The Globalists are afraid that their two-party scam is up -so they are throwing a ton of money on Palin/Beck to save it.

Expect a 3/4/5 party and eventually hundreds of political parties. -Something the globalists/Libs cannot contain or control.

The indoctrinated do not understand this and the media spin is not working (tea party = Gop) The indoctrinated have their heads in their TVs waiting for the new message, but there is none = indoctrinated are upset and wander around with no message.

I just can't say that I really understand it. How can you say you're from a party when the party actually works against your election?

Pretty Simple....Sick and tired as establishment politics as usual, time for some real..errr 'hopey and change' action.

Is Christine O'Donnell really an American? Has anyone seen her birth certificate? With a name like O'Donnell, she must be an Irish infiltraitor.

I bet if they ask her, she can provide a birth certficate and would gladly show it. :-D

2006 and 2008 were real bad years for Republicans. Looks like 2010 is going to be another year where the GOP gets their butt roasted and handed to them on a plate. :-)

wow, you really are deluded. The Dems will still lose the house, and possibly the senate.

This isn't about Demo or GOP, it's about voting for responsible people regardless of party. The people are finally making their own voice, but the liberal elitists don't like the unwashed masses to have any opinions. That's also why the Left continues to keep minorities down.

yabits - posting links and quotes from communist propaganda sites does not help your case.

Either way, it's taking votes from the GOP and in some cases putting them in the hands of Dems (especially if the people have to choose between the tea-party nuts instead), so it's a good thing, ultimately.

Sadly for the democrats even with the votes they are still losing the elections.

BINGO! It's quite hilarious to watch the GOP fall apart, as predicted they would, when a bunch of their mindless followers decided to go with the tea-party movement instead. This is great -- it means the GOP will not be able to take back the Senate, and it will hopefully show that these lunatics in the tea-party cannot be followed or trusted. They lie about being under-cover police, lie about houses they've bought, and half their ranks want the other half to quit because they are handing the Dems wins through the tea-partiers' DISGUSTING comments and extreme points of view.

But how is the GOP falling apart if they are going to be winning the vast majority of the elections this year for congress? The republicans are expected to take control of the house of representatives and make substantial gains on the Senate. I guess my question to you is which elections/wins are they handing to the Dems? I mean you keep talking about how the TEA party can't win but pretty much every election they keep winning.

NoLiving, as much as I'm a sceptic of polls, the one that came out 2 weeks ago saying the GOP had a 10 point lead was quickly overridden by the next poll that said the 2 main parties were neck and neck. Anyome who thinks the GOP has this election in the bag needs to think again. As I said earlier, the Right is splitting in 2 right before our eyes. It looks like things are turning in the Dems favor and the timing couldn't be sweeter.

Republicans courted the Tea Partiers. Be careful what you wish for.

"RINO's are become an endangered species..."

If you want to say Republican moderates,then ... yeah. Have you stopped to consider that every incumbent the tea party throws out is probably a senior committee member? They know the ropes. Pretty soon, Democrats will be controlling the votes and the committees too. You. Probably. Didn't. Get. That far in your high school civics class, did you?

I spent half of my life as a Republican. And looking at what the GOP is now, I could never be a part of it. More moderates are going to leave the party.

Never split your forces in front of an enemy, they say. I think that this is it for the Republicans. It is still a little early to say, but it looks really ugly. The fact that the TimRusserts of the world are still salivating makes it look really really bad.

First, remember that elections are won in the middle ground in the US. It is the two party game that we all know. The Tea Party fields GOP candidates and includes GOP voters. It is a wing of the GOP. They are taking the GOP way way over to the right and leaving a vacuum that the Democrats are filling. It is all uphill from here. The GOP has given up too much and can't make it back up if it cuts its moderates off at the knees.

Phase 1: GOP charges up the rabble rousing right to energize the party against, for want of a better word, Obamaism.

Phase 2: Palin and others keep that going and produce the party of NO, which is great for a while. South Carolina rep calls Obama a liar. Health insurance passes with compromises despite Obama's mandate. Wow.

Phase 3: Emboldened, the Tea Party continues in earnest, starts to chew on Dems, but then starts to eat moderate GOP members as well. Uh oh.

Phase 4: Like Tim Russert, I see an ever strengthening Tea Party, which will get louder and louder right up until election day. No moderate Republican can call them off and get them organized now. It is too late. They are winning primaries.

The next phase is elections: one of two things will happen which will shatter the GOP as we know it. Tea Party candidates will win, or they will lose.

If they win, then the GOP is done. Every moderate will become a RINO. Thermidor. Powell and Buffett and all the others will bolt the party. McCain and others will denounce the Tea Partiers and David Duke will embrace them. It will be a rag tag contingent of easily manipulated and bought off babes in the woods. The Dems will stay organized and motivated to stem the tide as it crests and ebbs. Elected Tea Party representatives will spend a lot of time talking, but they are disorganized by definition. Politically impotent. They will be isolated and will lose because they are not compromisers. Come the next election, they will have failed their constituencies. Bye bye. One and done.

If they lose, then the GOP is done. The finger pointing will never ever end. Moderates and the right will fight and fight and the moderates will lose. Meaning of course, that where the GOP survives, it will field unelectable candidates. Look for more and more religious candidates from the GOP. They will be the only GOP candidates that voters will be able to compromise on.

Whether they win or lose in upcoming elections, the Tea Party will get angrier and more divisive. How is that practical?

Robert Heinlein, a kind of libertarian/fascist guy himself, foretold an America that would devolve to a Christian/fascist dictatorship. I see that as the outcome if Wall Street, the religious right, and the tea party can all come together. It makes a lot of sense as the only way for the GOP to survive.

Noliving: Try reading the article again, and look for the 'in a surprise result' in terms of the tea-party candidate beating the GOP that everyone thought had it in the bag. Read on a little further and you'll see the part where the Republicans themselves admit that this could sink their goal of winning the senate. They might make some gains, but they won't get the sweeping victory some of you on here still claim they will, and Dems will get more than they would have if the Republican party were united (that's 'were', the subjunctive mood, meaning in reality they are NOT united).

But I say once more... not a SINGLE Republican supporter has come on here and said how this can damage chances for gains. Not one. Instead, EVERY SINGLE one of you has immediately shifted to arguments against Democrats because you simply CAN'T HANDLE the splintering of your beloved party, and the fact that you cannot support both since they are against each other. I know... it's gotta be a tough thing feeling your heads imploding as the GOP faces a bunch of loons who are supposed to espouse similar interests and fight against the Dems WITH them (not against). Again, it is really quite funny.

MisterCreostle: "New York and "extreme, extreme right" ?"

That's correct... if some fool from the tea-party won it would be more extreme than a regular fool from the Republican party, hence the 'extreme' repeated. Tough one to understand, I know, but hang in there.

paulinusa: "Republicans courted the Tea Partiers. Be careful what you wish for."

Many still do, which again is why it's hilarious to watch. sarge LOVES the dolt palin, for example, but I'm sure he also loves the GOP in general, so he must be a pretty confused lad at this point. To a very small extent I feel sorry that these people are getting what they deserved with the party splintering like it is, and having to choose the lesser of two evils (in their mind).

"More moderates are going to leave the party."

Yeah. I said it. And I tell you what, the Dems will welcome them. That is how much of the middle ground the GOP is giving up.

You know what they call it when an army gives up the field to the enemy for nothing? A rout. A defeat. The Tea Party is planting a flag and rallying around it, but it is so far to the right on the political spectrum that they are in for a rude shock come election time.

Pretty funny indeed. As recently as 2 months ago the Left was telling us all the Tea Parties were a minor blip on the national scene, bought and paid for by the Republican establishment, Fox News foremost among them. But with these victories comes the next round of equally silly analysis about how the Tea Parties now threaten to ruin the Republican Party that supposedly created them.

Meanwhile, Obama keeps dropping in the polls...

Excellent posts, Klein... seems we were typing at the same time. This has absolutely got to have anyone but the most extreme rightists panicking, and even the extreme rightists, as you pointed out, are only salivated at winning and know nothing beyond it -- they would be out next election guaranteed.

They are destroying themselves, and they deserve it. I wonder what some of the posters on here will do when they hear their beloved members are leaving the party and perhaps even becoming Dems. My guess is we'll just see handle changes and a bunch of instant slightly right-leaning Dems. hahaha.

The thoroughly venal, corrupt Charlie Rangel survived his primary challenges.

Speaks volumes about Democrats...

At worst, O'Donnell is another Ned Lamont.

Lefties here do remember Ned, yes?

I liked Ned. He kept Lieberman in office.

MisterCreosote: "Speaks volumes about Democrats..."

A perfect example of what I was talking about -- can't talk one little bit about the article at hand and how the tea-party wins have, "...set off a round of accusations and fingerpointing inside and outside the GOP." (from the article)

Nope... can't touch on those things. Let's just deflect instead. How about you guys start quoting Democratic JFK again, like last night. Oh... but then that puts you in a completely different conundrum; you then have to admit that your greatest president was a Democrat -- and if you try and say that 'today's Dems are not your father's Dems' you must also let the realization sink in that the GOP as you know it is ultimately falling apart thanks to this extremist movement. Of course, the Dems haven't strayed that far, in all their imperfections; the Republicans on the other hand have gone completely off the edge of the square earth some still think exists (seemingly, any way).

The key metric here is voter turnout. Obviously energized Tea Party voters will turn out. The question is will mainstream Republicans vote Tea Party, stay home or heaven forbid vote Democrat?

smithinjapan is right - the GOP is destroying itself. I never would have believed it a mere week ago but events this week have changed the ball game. Yesterday, we saw for the first time GOP members unanimously declaring that they would oppose not just a Dem bill, but an extension of their own bill. If that didn't get alarm bells ringing at GOP HQ, today's trumping by Christine O'Donnell of the GOP candidate sure will have. Barely anyone knew who Christine O'Donnell was 4 weeks ago. Now she has just nuked an established GOP candidate. Wow.

Now, it's going to get real messy as conservatives are forced to decide which of two conservative enemies to vote for. Sarah Palin may be key but she is killing the GOP by endorsing tea party candidates who are sucking votes away from candidates from her own party.

That's hugely funny. Our Sarah needs to decide real soon which party she will support. The way I see it, and considering the size of her following, whether she chooses GOP or the tea partiers, the Right is heading for oblivion. Never thought I'd see this. I never thought I'd see a man of color as U.S. president either, so what does that say? I'm lovin' this. :-)

Sushi: Sarah has already quite literally failed as a GOP Republican. Her only options seems to be to stick with the tea-party and ride her current wave of success via ignorant fools. Despite actually already having failed them, they are dumb enough to believe she did not, and so she can use that to keep the momentum going. It won't look quite as good for her -- and we know she loves the glamour and fan-fare of a crowd full of people who have eyes like pee-holes in the snow (vacuous holes of nothing) -- if she goes back to the GOP. Besides, she's as nuts as anything the tea-party espouses, so she can be her idiotic self without worries of repercussions and/or the audience asking her questions. :)

This is too enjoyable!

And looking at what the GOP is now, I could never be a part of it. More moderates are going to leave the party.

And we see the first implications to apply violence coming from one of their main candidates -- Sharron Angle, who has touted a "second-amendment" final solution to getting a Congress to act in ways which the Tea Party types think proper.

The Delaware GOP chairman received a death threat for his endorsement of Mike Castle. Oops, I meant to say the "second-amendment" solution of having a bullet put in his head.

Next we'll hear from Mister Russert/Creosote how its the moderates that are the violent ones.

If they win, then the GOP is done. Every moderate will become a RINO. Thermidor. Powell and Buffett and all the others will bolt the party. McCain and others will denounce the Tea Partiers and David Duke will embrace them. It will be a rag tag contingent of easily manipulated and bought off babes in the woods.

Awesome assessment, Klein2.

Hate to say it smith, but as a republican supporter you are probably right. Gerrymandering and turning out voters will help the extremists of either party win primaries but, often, those candidates are losers in the general election. The Tea Party, by rejecting any incumbent and supporting some outright loonies, is setting the general republican party up for a less effective general election. I guess we'll see what happens in November. Can the voters stay angry that long? Will enough centrists get out to vote? Time will tell.

Noliving: Try reading the article again, and look for the 'in a surprise result' in terms of the tea-party candidate beating the GOP that everyone thought had it in the bag. Read on a little further and you'll see the part where the Republicans themselves admit that this could sink their goal of winning the senate. They might make some gains, but they won't get the sweeping victory some of you on here still claim they will, and Dems will get more than they would have if the Republican party were united (that's 'were', the subjunctive mood, meaning in reality they are NOT united). But I say once more... not a SINGLE Republican supporter has come on here and said how this can damage chances for gains. Not one. Instead, EVERY SINGLE one of you has immediately shifted to arguments against Democrats because you simply CAN'T HANDLE the splintering of your beloved party, and the fact that you cannot support both since they are against each other. I know... it's gotta be a tough thing feeling your heads imploding as the GOP faces a bunch of loons who are supposed to espouse similar interests and fight against the Dems WITH them (not against). Again, it is really quite funny.

I already did read the article thank you very much. Dude I'm going based on the elections for the past year or so, democrats have no been winning the key battles they have been needing to win, they keep losing the majority of contests with the republicans and it is shaping up to be that way for the democrats this November. Who said I was a republican smith? I don't vote for either party considering Democrats are just as bad as republicans, the democrats are not saints. Also does it matter if the republican party is blowing up if they keep winning the majority of contests against the democrats?

NoLiving, as much as I'm a sceptic of polls, the one that came out 2 weeks ago saying the GOP had a 10 point lead was quickly overridden by the next poll that said the 2 main parties were neck and neck. Anyome who thinks the GOP has this election in the bag needs to think again. As I said earlier, the Right is splitting in 2 right before our eyes. It looks like things are turning in the Dems favor and the timing couldn't be sweeter.

First things first, its Noliving not NoLiving. Yes that is true, what is better to do is look at what the majority of polls show, the majority of polls show that it is going to be the republicans winning the most elections this November, enough to take the house of representatives. Not enough to get 60 in the Senate but enough to get the democrats under 60 so much that they are forced to deal with the republicans.

Part of the problem that I have with smiths predictions is aren't these the same predictions back in 2008, people thought the republican party was dead and would not be able to win the majority of elections and yet here they are. I keep hearing these predictions about the republican party is gone or they are dead but not a single one of them has come true yet, why should this one be any different than the ones in 2008 or 2006?

What so many people fail to understand, is that the Tea Party isn't extremist. It is the loons who are the extremists. The loons who think Big Brother should manage our lives. Thats what the Tea Party opposes. You people who think the GOP is tearing itself apart, that its done for. Remember 2008. All your gleeful predictions about how it was done? Its not done yet.

You guys saying you could never be part of the Republican party now. What you are saying, is that you prefer the Dem policy of big government solutions to all our problems. You think the solution is always more spending by the Federal Government. Thats what this election, and others like around the country were about. Kicking out those Republicans who prefer to vote with the Dems, in making government even larger. If you don't like it, then of course you don't have to vote Republican. But if you think that the solution to many problems, is a smaller government, that better protects its citizens rights, and is more aligned with how the framers intended. Then you'll vote Republican. And if they win, spending decreases, deficits are reined in. And wouldn't that just be a terrible thing.

What you are saying, is that you prefer the Dem policy of big government solutions to all our problems.

A reasonable person sees a role for government in the solution to a great many issues facing the country. There will never be a case where every single person is happy with the solution, but government is how "we the people" work together to achieve effective responses.

Unfortunately, reasoning and reasonable-ness completely escape the far-right fringe that is driving the GOP into the ditch today. The "no compromises-no prisoners" approach is the surest sign of the radical loon.

I am starting to hear more about a lot of these candidates and organizers being secessionists and having criminal pasts. One of the things that the mainstream GOP could do was vet their candidates, and .. um... clear things up.

I wonder if anyone has thought about what these candidates have in their past, especially if they are the GOP future.

"aren't these the same predictions back in 2008, people thought the republican party was dead and would not be able to win the majority of elections and yet here they are."

Actually, no. The GOP was united in that/those elections. It is not the same prediction. As I was saying yesterday, whether the Tea Party wins or loses from here on in, it is a whole new ball game. They say you have to shoot an animal after it has tasted human blood. That way of thinking is that you can't trust the animal and that it has turned on you once, so it has to be put down. Well, the TParty has drawn blood on the GOP, and now one of them has to go. The Tea Party will not compromise anymore than a wolf will. And the sheep in the GOP have got to run or they will get chewed up.

Every win by the Tea Party will convince them that God is on their side. Reinforcement bias and Dunning-Kruger are kicking in at once. Their ilk are susceptible to both, so I think this is it. The only way the GOP can survive is if it changes radically, and it won't.

"What you are saying, is that you prefer the Dem policy of big government solutions to all our problems. "

The world is a complicated place. Molenir, your IQ is somewhere north of 120 I would say. Sarah Palin is putting along at about 80, I would say. Maybe she is average. I want smart people to take care of problems for me so that I don't have to. I will pay them. That is our world.

When all of the trogs start waving signs and say that they can operate government better than Molenir can, well, that might have worked in 1776 when what the US needed was a few more muskets and bushels of corn, but "believing in Freedom" was not enough for Pat Tillman or David Stockman or any of the others who learned the hard way how complicated things really are. After they get elected they will have to manage committee work, coalitions, campaigns, and still take care of when to keep their mouths open and shut.

Elitist? Go ahead and say it. It is a romantic notion to think that Forrest Gump can manage the US and all of its interests and problems, but as a practical matter, I would not let a lot of these TPartiers fix my car. Molenir, you believe in them, but you also know that you are smarter than they are. Does that tell you something?

Look at the way the presidency has physically aged some very capable people. They did their best to manage things and have had difficulty. Do you think they didn't delegate enough or lacked organizational skills? No. They were professionals and had serious problems. Sarah Palin had difficulty completing a college degree. Many of these candidates of the Tea Party have sketchy backgrounds. America's future is not safe in their hands.

So yeah. I am an old codger who wants to hire the best person for the job, not the smiling back slapping stumble-bum, and that does not make me elitist. I want an organized government full of people who know their jobs and who can do them.

"Kicking out those Republicans who prefer to vote with the Dems, in making government even larger. If you don't like it, then of course you don't have to vote Republican. But if you think that the solution to many problems, is a smaller government, that better protects its citizens rights, and is more aligned with how the framers intended."

A smaller government. Here, do this for fun Molenir. Sit down with the budget. Just use the summary one that the White House puts out, or the summary put out by the GAO. OK. Take out a red pen and start cutting. Did it? OK, now go to Wikipedia and read what those cut programs actually do. If you can get ahold of a Brittanica or something that is older and reviewed, do it. I encourage you.

I am not saying that cutting government can't be done, but you can't do it. You won't because it is too much for your brain. And you are willing to let these other people do that? If you find that it can't be cut by much, which I think you will find, then you will have learned.

One Tea Party candidate wants to cut the Department of Education. Go see what its budget is and what it does and tell me that is a smart thing to do.

Now Molenir, if you are too impatient to do it rationally, the answer is not to wreck it and start over. The answer is to try and solve the problems. Eventually, anyone who sits down and looks at the problem will come to a similar conclusion. America is in a tricky spot and it needs smart management to get out of it.

I do not think America has time for these Tea Partiers to get up to speed on what the issues REALLY ARE, but I assure you they are not just "freedom and no taxes." And Tea Partiers do not include real issues in their dialogue at all, so they aren't even learning NOW. They are just talking.

Actually, no. The GOP was united in that/those elections. It is not the same prediction.

Ah yes it is, I can't tell you how many times I heard that the GOP were finished because of the disaster Bush was and that no one would ever believe a single thing the GOP said again/trust the GOP ever again. I don't know what you heard but I most definitely heard that the GOP were done, finished, left die as a party after the 2008 elections.

"Ah yes it is, I can't tell you how many times I heard that the GOP were finished"

Well. Enjoy those memories. I never thought the GOP was actually threatened with extinction. It is hard for one party to do that to another, but the GOP is now doing it to itself, which is a whole different story. Right now, I don't see an alternative to extinction of the GOP as we know it, one way or another. It will either turn into the WallStreet/Christian/Populist Frankenstein that the Tea Party has in mind, or it will become a moderate Christian appendage of the Tea Party.

Even the money is flowing to Tea Party candidates now.

You know, if you look at the rise of the national socialists in prewar Germany, the money interests supported the national socialists because they were seen as the lesser among evils. Of course, the national socialists eventually consumed everything and ruined the country, but they operated initially as an extreme arm of what might be called Christian Democrats, pretty much what the GOP is today. The pattern is astounding.

paulinusa: The key metric here is voter turnout. Obviously energized Tea Party voters will turn out. The question is will mainstream Republicans vote Tea Party, stay home or heaven forbid vote Democrat?

Yeah, I was wondering that myself. What we have here is a group of people who organized for primaries, something that the general public doesn't often show up to vote for. We're talking about numbers that hover around 20% of voting age. We might be looking at what amounts to an experiment to see if an organized party can influence elections with low overall turnout, and the answer appears to be yes. I think the Tea Party's influence will be greatly diminished when you have much larger turnouts, and their success in the primaries might actually add to voter turnout for the next stage.

The Democrats might call that a success, but it's mostly a stay of execution, a second chance. I've been a lifelong Democrat but it never ceases to amaze me how that party can trip over their own dicks when something is given to them. They need to lead. The public isn't going to want to hear smug remarks about the Republican's implosion, but I suspect that will be coming out of their mouths soon just because it wouldn't be the best choice to make. They're about to lose some seats and they need to be focused on getting them back in the election after this one.

One Tea Party candidate wants to cut the Department of Education. Go see what its budget is and what it does and tell me that is a smart thing to do.

Getting a bit off topic here, but whatever. I'm actually one of those who think that cutting the Dept of Education would be a good thing. Essentially the Department of Education is a distributor of education grants from the Federal government to the states as well as to certain organizations. As someone who believes in limited government, I think allowing the states to manage their own education, the way they have done since the founding of the country, and not taking that money from the states at all, would be a good thing. This isn't the forum for that debate though, so I'll leave it here. Suffice it to say, that there are quite a few departments, that you could make a case to dispense with them, and return their power to the states.

But heres the thing. After passing the health care bill, dept of justice lawyers argued that the Federal Government had the right, to force citizens to buy a product. In looking at this argument however, it can easily be extended to say there is nothing that the Federal Government cannot legislate, or require. The lawyers for the Dept of Justice admitted this fact as well. That is the problem. The Federal Government has seized so much power, that there is no longer any real check on its power or authority. Dems, and Rinos like Castle are a large part of the reason for this massive expansion of the Federal Government. For the massive deficit spending, and the out of control runaway government.

Klein, you brought up the Nazis. If you look at history, and look back at how a Democracy was converted to a Dictatorship, there are a lot of similarities between them and us. No, I don't think that we're necessarily headed down that road. But I do think that a smaller, limited government is the way to go. And putting people like O'Donnell in office, is the first step in achieving this.

Information from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tea-party-20100916,0,5499365.story

But I do think that a smaller, limited government is the way to go. And putting people like O'Donnell in office, is the first step in achieving this.

The Tea Party's goal: Achieving small government via electing people of lower qualifications.

Minnesota did a similar experiment around a decade ago with the election of Jesse Ventura. What an embarrassment.

The Tea Party's goal: Achieving small government via electing people of lower qualifications.

Agreed the common riff raff have no business running for office.

"As someone who believes in limited government, I think allowing the states to manage their own education, the way they have done since the founding of the country, and not taking that money from the states at all, would be a good thing."

You did not say limited. You said eliminated. I think the Tea Party agenda will be to eliminate government because it is not inclined or prepared to participate in it. I happen to think that the US could benefit from a larger budget for the Dept. of Education. Like tripled. I think that would be what.. one B2 bomber?

But I guess that is something you want to avoid talking about as "off topic." In fact, if we are talking about the Tea Party, any discussion of actual plans or policies would be off topic.

Looks like Castle will not endorse O'Donnell. If you check out the web sites in Delaware, the whole Republican establishment is stirred. Nice job Tea Party. You run as GOP and then mess up the campaign financing, the campaigning and the debates. You don't play by the rules. The GOP is angry and now the Tea Party people are wondering what they did wrong, "Hey.. let the best man win, Freedom!" Castle's people are saying that O'Donnell people called him gay. Castle is telling people not to finance O'Donnell or vote for her. O'Donnell's people are calling him a RINO and praying a lot. It's Helter Skelter, man!

"Klein, you brought up the Nazis. If you look at history, and look back at how a Democracy was converted to a Dictatorship, there are a lot of similarities between them and us. No, I don't think that we're necessarily headed down that road. But I do think that a smaller, limited government is the way to go."

Well, here is the national socialist blueprint. You try to get a small government by dissolving key posts designed to act as checks. Get your guy elected along with a legitimate party. Then undermine the legitimate party until it has to cede power to your guy. Keep trimming government until there is no legitimate opposition anymore. Then just take over. Substitute thugs for bureaucrats and call it reform. Adolf had the most limited government there was. He was it. He held 6 or 7 posts personally.

There is no legitimate reason to limit government just for sake of limiting it. There are plenty of illegitimate ones. The US is one reichstag fire short of a royal flush.

Just keep watching. I think there is no stopping because everyone wants the momentum to build, and it is happening nationwide. By the time people stop for a breather, the GOP will be ripped to ribbons. Who does everyone trust to put it back together? Nobody. The GOP has been TPed.

Agreed the common riff raff have no business running for office.

Oh, everyone should be encouraged to run. That's the only way to separate the wheat from the common riff-raff. What the Tea Party is doing is actually electing complete idiots and pretending they've got something on the ball.

To paraphrase an old Frank Zappa song: "They sniffed the reeking stench of Reagan -- and acted like it was cocaine."

"What the Tea Party is doing is electing complete idiots"

Heh heh, sure, yabits, just insult the people you despise who win elections, heh heh.

Heh heh, sure, yabits, just insult the people you despise who win elections, heh heh.

I would disdain them equally as idiots if they lost. They ARE idiots! O'Donnell: Vacuous airhead. Angle: Complete idiot. Paladino: Racist, porn-loving whack-a-doodle.

They say these tea-bagging idiots come a dime a dozen. I'm looking for whoever is supplying the dimes. (from Blassie)

Sarge, you obviously aren't reading any credible news. The tea party movement is a joke. O'Donnell makes Our Sarah look intelligent and that's really saying something. She even claimed masturbation was a sin. I'm not sure what program O'Donnell is with but it's not the same program sensible Americans are on, exactly, exactly.

Well, here is the national socialist blueprint. You try to get a small government by dissolving key posts designed to act as checks. Get your guy elected along with a legitimate party. Then undermine the legitimate party until it has to cede power to your guy. Keep trimming government until there is no legitimate opposition anymore. Then just take over. Substitute thugs for bureaucrats and call it reform. Adolf had the most limited government there was. He was it. He held 6 or 7 posts personally.

Except thats about 180 degrees from the way Adolf went about it. What happened was, the Federal government took more and more power, until they were the final authority. They set up central management boards designed to encourage production, which instead were used to centralize control. Once that was the case, the Nazis got their people into the system, and seized control of it. With everything being run out of the Federal Government, there was no longer a check on its power, hence dictatorship.

I would disdain them equally as idiots if they lost. They ARE idiots! O'Donnell: Vacuous airhead. Angle: Complete idiot. Paladino: Racist, porn-loving whack-a-doodle.

Ya know, given your incoherence on the subject, they're starting to look much smarter then you. In fact, thinking about it, this is precisely the spin you guys want to push isn't it. Every woman running for office who is a Republican is an idiot. Unless of course shes a liberal or a moderate such as Snowe or Collins. If shes a conservative, then she must be an idiot. Otherwise your whole philosophy is undercut. So basically, you calling all these women stupid, idiots, and other perjoratives, really is proving your own misogyny.

In further news, 'Dirty' Harry may have just given O'Donnell the win in Delaware. At the very least, he gave her the first campaign commercial that is going to really hurt Coons.

Sushi - "Sarge, you obviously aren't reading any credible news"

I read JT - isn't that credible?

yabits/Sushi - We're laughing at the superior intellect.

The people warning about these idiots were the same ones who predicted that George W. Bush would be a disaster as president. Bring on these non-compromising nitwits and America will eventually move much farther over to the left in response.

Considering the same people that brought us Obama... They're rather lacking credibility at the moment. It doesn't change the fact either, that you guys are so threatened by conservative women, that they are all 'idiots'. The fact that most of them are probably smarter then you, means nothing, they are conservative, and women, therefore according to your beliefs, they must be stupid.

yabits/Sushi - We're laughing at the superior intellect.

Hearing some of these loons ranting about how dumb these women are, really makes me laugh.

Considering the same people that brought us Obama...

A far better president than the disaster he followed. That morons and lunatics claim he lacks credibility shouldn't phase anyone.

More about O'Donnell's questionable past has been coming out lately, like charging personal expenses to add to her campaign expense debts and way after the election was over (both against Federal Election Commission rules) contrary to public fiscal conservatism, kept on insisting that her past statement about winning 2 counties in the prior election was correct despite the "friendly" radio talkshow host -a supporter of hers- showing her she in fact lost both counties, worked for and fired by a Conservative think-tank organization who she then sued then withdrew the lawsuit, haven't had a notable employment history since 2004, etc.

Many people are starting to think she's just saying what she has to say to get money because she doesn't have any manner to support herself.

A far better president than the disaster he followed. That morons and lunatics claim he lacks credibility shouldn't phase anyone.

The fact that my dog would make a better President, or the fact that quite a few people are looking back fondly at Bush, is a testament to how flawed your arguement is. When the man is giving Jimmy Carter a run for incompetence and stupidity, it says a great deal about him.

Dirty Harry gave O'Donnell a huge boost yesterday. Calling her opponent his 'pet'. I can see the campaign commercials now. Every one should refer to him as Harry Reid's loyal lapdog. Have someone wondering which way a man like Coons would vote on an issue, a buddy says, just look at how Obama and Reid think. You know he's just their loyal lapdog. Maybe have some old granny sitting in front of a fire, petting one of those little yippy dogs. Saying something like, I like my little wuffles, but he wouldn't make a good Senator...

lol, wow, the ammunition is endless here. Dirty Harry just nationalized the election, and even in a liberal state like Delaware, that gives O'Donnell a shot.

The fact that my dog would make a better President...

The new Republican Tea Bag Party is testing that out by putting up some real dogs as candidates. We haven't seen folks this low on the human intelligence spectrum since Jerry Rubin and the Yippies nominated a pig.

Dirty Harry gave O'Donnell a huge boost yesterday. Calling her opponent his 'pet'.

Wow. This will certainly give O'Donnell a boost among those in Delaware stupid enough to vote for her. The problem is that most voters in Delaware are just not that dumb.

I can see the campaign commercials now.

Don't give up your day job.

From moderate conservative columnist, David Brooks:

"It doesn’t matter that public approval of the G.O.P. is now at its all-time low. It doesn’t matter that the Tea Party rhetoric is sometimes extreme. The poll suggests that roughly 50 percent of Americans haven’t thought about the Tea Parties enough to form an opinion. They’re not paying attention because they don’t see it as one of the important dangers they face. Who knows? Maybe they even sort of like the fact that a ragtag band of outsiders is taking on the establishment and winning.

"This doesn’t mean that the Tea Party influence will be positive for Republicans over the long haul. The movement carries viruses that may infect the G.O.P. in the years ahead. Its members seek traditional, conservative ends, but they use radical means. Along the way, the movement has picked up some of the worst excesses of modern American culture: a narcissistic sense of victimization, an egomaniacal belief in one’s own rightness and purity, a willingness to distort the truth so that every conflict becomes a contest of pure good versus pure evil.

[We certainly read those distortions here.]

"The Tea Party style is beginning to replicate itself in parts of the conservative world. Dinesh D’Souza’s Forbes cover article, “How Obama Thinks,” contained the sort of untethered assertions that have become the lingua franca of this movement. Obama got his subversive radicalism from his father’s grave, D’Souza postulated: “He adopted his father’s position that capitalism and freedom are code words for economic plunder.” The fact that Newt Gingrich embraced this offensive theory is a sign of how severely the normal intellectual standards have been weakened."

The new Republican Tea Bag Party is testing that out by putting up some real dogs as candidates. We haven't seen folks this low on the human intelligence spectrum since Jerry Rubin and the Yippies nominated a pig.

Rather sad that that pig is probably smarter then the current US President. He certainly would make a better President.

Wow. This will certainly give O'Donnell a boost among those in Delaware stupid enough to vote for her. The problem is that most voters in Delaware are just not that dumb.

Really depends, if they vote for Coons, then they're much, much worse then you think. I mean, despite their desire to think they know best, the reality is that, even the stupidest Republican voter this year, is about twice as smart as anyone voting for a Dem.

From moderate conservative columnist, David Brooks:

It would be more accurate to call him moderate. He doesn't fit the conservative model, he is however fairly impartial generally, hence why I think of him more as a moderate, rather then liberal, despite where he works.

" Delaware has crossed the Washington "

iOTW

The biggest problem is that the folks leaning toward the extremists are feeding in the media and instigating those who bungled up their lives. O'Donnell's win is the trouble not only for Democrats but also for the Republicans, because the Tea Party Group is trying to make a hostile takeover of the GOP, and hopefully, the Washington.

So this Tea Party thing is for real? I thought it was a joke.

Christine O’Donnell has raised $1,763,871 since her upset win against RINO Mike Castle on Tuesday.

Among other things, she admitted dabbling in witchcraft. She may not be a Christian. Not a Muslim though.

http://abcnews.go.com/News/christine-odonnell-dabbled-witchcraft/story?id=11671277

O'Donnell told TV talk show host Phil Donahue in 2002 that "condoms will not protect you from AIDS." And in a 2006 appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" she said efforts to promote condom use are "anti-human."

She's also received new attention for comments she made in 1996 on MTV's "Sex in the '90s" in which she likened masturbation and pornography to adultery.

Change is good.

The tea party is new - give them a chance.

Bush pimped us out for 8 years, now Obama is giving it to us in the rear... trust me, ANY CHANGE WILL BE GOOD!

I love the Tea Party Movement and its leaders. Roll on November, when the Democrats will be defeated!

I hope the teaparty not only defeats democrats, but also some republicans.

blunder... the reason you thought the teaparty was a joke, is because CNN and MSNBC has tried their best to portray it so. Watch FOX..

O'Donnell is out of her depth. I think Delaware Republican Party chairman Tom Ross, when speaking of O'Donnell, put it well: "I could buy a parrot and train it to say, ‘tax cuts,’ but at the end of the day, it’s still a parrot, not a conservative."

I think we are in fact seeing the GOP splitting in two in front of our very eyes. It's too bad, too. When the GOP was the party of the big tent they gave voters a reasonable alternative. Now the Tea Party is dragging it to the extreme right. That's going to leave a big chunk of moderates in the middle.

Which party will represent their interests now? I think the Dems are well positioned pick up moderate votes if they continue to advance a moderate policy platform. After all, they don't have the Tea Party to contend with. The GOP not so much. They can't move to the middle without losing the Tea Party vote.

For the immediate election the GOP might be able to capitalize on anti-incumbent sentiment stemming from the recession and high unemployment, but in the longer term I think the GOP is hosed: if they go right they will lose the moderate middle, and if they go left they'll lose the extreme right. I don't think Ronald Reagan would recognize today's GOP.

the longer term I think the GOP is hosed: if they go right they will lose the moderate middle, and if they go left they'll lose the extreme right.

they won't go left, no worry there. and the democrats have sickened the moderate republicans soo much they are pushing them to the right.

O Donnell can't be any more vapid and incompetent than Joe Biden. And look at how many times Delaware folks voted for that clown.

@vulcan:

they won't go left, no worry there. and the democrats have sickened the moderate republicans soo much they are pushing them to the right.

That may be true, but couldn't it just be anti-incumbent sentiment? I mean, right now the only party with a lower approval rating in Congress than the Dems is the Republicans. Or have all the moderates gone Tea Party?

@TimRussert:

Hehe. I think Joe Biden is out of his depth too, for what it's worth.

Bush pimped us out for 8 years, now Obama is giving it to us in the rear... trust me, ANY CHANGE WILL BE GOOD!

Boy, you are a sucker for change--Yes, it CAN get worse, especially with someone who can not even manage her own finances.

jamal, it is probably both.. anti imcumbent and a swing to the right. By "right" I mean people are getting worried about the debt and the spending. Even the spending the "right" approves of, the defense budget, is getting questioned now by republicans and even Sec Gates. Not defending our borders is also worrying people. States are going broke by supporting illegal aliens sending their kids to school and giving them free medical care because they have no money. Now 8% of children born in the US are born to an illegal alien, making them legal US citizens (the children). Everyone afraid of being called a racist when all they want is to keep undocumented people out of America. It's okay to do it on airplanes, but not borders? Crazy stuff. Were at a crossroads in America and November will show it at the polls. It will be interesting.