How Christine O'Donnell Beat The GOP Establishment (VIDEO)

In the week since Christine O'Donnell scored her upset victory over Mike Castle in the GOP primary contest for the Delaware Senate seat, we've absorbed a lot of information about O'Donnell -- her weird views, her past appearances on "Politically Incorrect" -- yes, the whole "witchcraft" thing. But the most interesting part to watch has been the way in which her nomination caused the schism between the GOP establishment and the outsider force of the "Tea Party" to finally, and briefly break the surface.

We've seen the establishment approach some of the nominees -- Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Joe Miller come to mind -- with a certain degree of caution and unease. But those candidates have ended up being embraced without a whole lot of public rancor. For a period of time, however, O'Donnell looked like she might have been the bridge too far.

It was Karl Rove who put the issue in stark relief, simply by saying some very honest and non-controversial things about O'Donnell -- she was a tainted, "nutty" candidate that hadn't much hope in beating the Democratic nominee, Chris Coons, in November. None of that is particularly outrageous on its face, but Rove, unwittingly perhaps, broke a rule that the GOP establishment had thus far managed to avoid breaking -- never demean the base. As a result, pain and opprobrium was heaped upon him, most notably by Sarah Palin, who had endorsed O'Donnell. The backlash was intense and Rove, in the end, was made to capitulate.

We've chronicled this time of our lives in video form for you.

WATCH:

[Video Produced by Ben Craw.]

And O'Donnell? Well, she still looks to be going down in November but she's weathered her first week of scrutiny, and that's no small thing. As for the "civil war" between the GOP establishment and the enthusiastic insurgency that gave O'Donnell her shot, well, that's been arrested by Rove's surrender. It may not yet be Appomattox -- we'll see what happens when everyone is together and governing -- but it's a detente, at the very least.

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Comments

[moutonnoir]

02:09 AM on 09/28/2010

ugh

[Zafaryab]

04:44 PM on 09/24/2010

I wonder how is the Democratic party going to screw this one up?

I fear that, as ridiculous and amusing as all this seems, the Democrats will not be able to mount a successful campaign against Ms. O'Donnelle and we will all be amazed when she wins come November.

[ActualAmerican]

03:19 PM on 09/25/2010

They will screw it up by coming out and saying "I am going to socialize America".

[mcmutter]

12:06 PM on 09/26/2010

... and exactly how have they done that .....

[Sean777]

03:56 PM on 09/23/2010

If there are minimum IQ requirements to recruit military personnel; why there are no IQ requirements to file a candidacy to take a seat in the Senate?

I can not believe Tea Party “candidates” are wining primaries. At least you can try to have an intelligent discussion with true Republicans but the Tea Party is like dealing with a TERMINATOR: “It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever,” until we are deep into an economic depression.

[ladyearth]

08:12 AM on 09/23/2010

Karl Rove forced to capitulate was worth the price of the popcorn.

[SaddieMcCall]

07:42 AM on 09/23/2010

Christine has cast a spell over Karl Rove.

Strange to see the republican establishment being knee capped by Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell

[Ohioan4truth]

02:56 AM on 09/23/2010

If I tell the truth about lying,,then lie....isn't that the 'truth'? Do two truths make a lie? Do two lies make a truth? If you lie about lieing, isn't that the truth? "That's true, he lied", said the liar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJCcmDLajiU

[Kevin Atlanta]

10:21 PM on 09/22/2010

Breathe in; breathe out, come to center...  LOL

Karl Rove and Hannity?

Breathe in; breathe out, come to center... LOL

"Either a liar or mentally unhinged."  ROTFLMAO  Look: how compassionate, how "Cults of Jesus Inc."
They are eating their own...  Throw her to the Lions....  

CONservatism is a disease; treatable with education and medication.
God loves the CONservative but hates the CON.

Arrrrrgh, stop the Rove Torture; I'll tell you everything...

The Tundra Tart?  How inhumane.  Is Dick Cheney or Rumsfeld behind that mirror?

O'Donnell not more O'Donnell...  

I would like to see my lawyer now...

And she disappears off the scope.  The Koch Brothers are shrewd handlers.  Do you want a Corporate Fascist theocratic Government?

This will play great at Halloween to scare all the little childruns....  I think I'll wrap my kids in a flag and have them carrying a cross.  They can be Sinclair Lewis' nightmare....   ROTFLMAO

[MarsAmbassador]

10:15 PM on 09/22/2010

Wow, pretty strange to see Karl Rove defending himself like that, defending his conservative credentials to FOX News. Unreal. Did I just wake up in Bizarro America?

[bernikitty]

09:38 PM on 09/22/2010

can i just say, i love how she looks d.r.u.n.k. in this picture.
like someone must have spiked her tea....

she looks like she's about to start a new chorus...99 cups of tea on the wall, 99 cups of tea...

[Harbinger08]

09:15 PM on 09/22/2010

I love how she snottily smacked Karl Rove around. Really rubbed it in, too. She has the high-school nasty queen bee delivery down pat. She even called the party regs too "lazy" to win. Hilarious stuff.

[bernikitty]

09:34 PM on 09/22/2010

like a kitten playing with a cobra....

[olivia]

11:21 PM on 09/22/2010

She's obnoxious in her cockiness. Like Palin. It makes people happy to see them smacked down.

[mdlw]

08:07 PM on 09/22/2010

Christine....just found out your BFF Scarah forgot where she allegedly delivered that baby boy. Waco speech vs. her book....check out the site below and view the video, and then the update regarding that Waco speech!

http://palingates.blogspot.com/2010/09/sarah-palins-wild-ride-on-april-17-2008.html

[PoorRichardsHeartache]

07:41 PM on 09/22/2010

I would like someone to explain to me how t party supporters can so blithely disregard the background baggage and out and out lying about their qualifications of some of the chosen candidates?. Its one thing to mouth the hot button words, but there should be some integrity in the process.

[taddles]

05:43 AM on 09/23/2010

Um, you used the word integrity and t party in the same paragraph, those are mutually exclusive concepts.

[ThermoChemist]

07:25 PM on 09/22/2010

"Karl Rove who put the issue in stark relief, simply by saying some very honest and non-controversial things about O'Donnell -- she was a tainted, "nutty" candidate that hadn't much hope in beating the Democratic nominee, Chris Coons, in November."
=================

Seems like Rove did NOT adhere to Reagan's Eleventh Commandment:

"Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican"

[outofyourleague]

07:08 PM on 09/22/2010

The Republican party has become far too top-heavy, and like all top-heavy institutions that get too greedy, it will eventually collapse.

[evangelicalchimp]

07:02 PM on 09/22/2010

With a stick and a strong right arm?

With a chainsaw and a Dixie Cup?

With a Moped and a Croquet Mallet?

With a Monkey and a Handgun?