In Wilmington, Delaware this afternoon, the Tea Party Express will take Christine O’Donnell on one more trip around the dance floor before the election music stops. With just hours to go before Election Day, the Republican Senate nominee and and the Tea Party Express are likely set for different paths: O’Donnell to an almost certain loss to Democrat Chris Coons, and the group to what’s sure to be some post-election tea party infighting. But today, they will share the same stage one more time.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O’Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]
The group’s final bus tour of the campaign cycle is rolling to a stop Monday, but not before touching down in Delaware, where Tea Party Express money and resources helped O’Donnell defeat the GOP establishment pick, Mike Castle, in this September’s Republican primary.
Since that time, O’Donnell has come to represent the best and the worst of the tea party phenomenon. Her ability to knock off Castle — an odds-on favorite for the seat, with the endorsement of just about everyone in mainstream Republican politics — was indicative of the tea party’s ability to scare the pants off the establishment. That could have a big effect on how the party moves forward if the GOP wins big on Tuesday. But O’Donnell’s apparent failure to engage voters in Delaware beyond her tea party base also tells a tale of the tea party: the one where candidates find themselves trapped underneath the movement’s sometimes eccentric policy views.
The TPM Poll Average puts an O’Donnell win basically out of reach for her supporters. Democratic nominee Chris Coons leads 55.2-37.7.
But today, with the Tea Party Express bus in town and O’Donnell back in the limelight, the tea party will likely focus on celebrating what O’Donnell already accomplished (see the pants-scaring I mentioned earlier) and what the tea party’s likely getting ready to accomplish on Tuesday (see Boehner, Speaker John A.)
Having watched the tea party all year, it seemed fitting to catch the movement feting one of its greatest primary successes, just before she seems sure to become one of the GOP’s biggest general election embarrassments.
I’ll be livetweeting the O’Donnell/Tea Party Express rally in Wilmington and will send dispatches throughout the day. Stay tuned, starting around 3 p.m. ET. You can read all the latest updates at the TPM Midterms Wire.
