Despite what you may have heard, Christine O’Donnell was not universally backed by the tea party. Sure, O’Donnell rode to victory in the Republican primary for Senate in Delaware on the back of financial support from the Tea Party Express and endorsements from tea party favorites Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin. But some prominent tea party leaders were still wary of her political baggage in the days before the primary vote. Chief among them was Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks — one of the largest tea party umbrella organizations out there. That all changed on Fox News today.
On Monday, Kibbe and FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey told reporters that the group wasn’t getting behind O’Donnell, who Kibbe — at the time — said “can’t win” the general election. Armey even took the establishment GOP position on the race best embodied (until extremely recently) by Karl Rove.
Asked by a reporter if, when it came to Delaware, “it’s better for Republicans to lose with a tea party-backed candidate than to win with a mainstream Republican candidate, Armey gave a direct answer
“No,” he said.
That was then. Now, after the ultra-right has spent close to two days crowning O’Donnell its new queen, FreedomWorks is having a change of heart.
“It’s a new game now,” Kibbe explained on Fox before saying his group would consider offering O’Donnell its endorsement.
Watch:
While you’re at it, check out this highlight reel of Rove’s flip-flop on O’Donnell, which began on Tuesday with Rove calling her “nutty” and ended today with his claim that he was partially responsible for the NRSC freeing up national cash for her:
