Delaware is not normally where you go for exciting politics. It’s a small state, totally dominated for most of the last three or four decades by three or four guys who keep getting reelected, except when they trade one of the state’s four major offices and get elected again. Mike Castle’s been getting elected for about thirty years. He was Governor. Then the state’s sole Representative since 1993. And now he’s trading up to be Senator. That’s just how things work in Delaware.
Until about a month ago.
Now it looks like he’s about to get rocked by totally wild-eyed Tea Partier Christine O’Donnell. She’s the one who says it’s not enough to be abstinent. You have to eliminate sexual desire entirely. Which suggests she’s what you’d call an aspirational politician rather than a realist.
First The Tea Party Express started pouring in money for her. Then Palin endorsed her. Then this morning the Weekly Standard unloaded this hatchet-job on her. And now PPP has just released a poll showing her 3 points ahead of Mike Castle.
In any other year, you’d probably be safe seeing that as basically a tie race and figuring Castle’s machine strength could pull it out for him. But after Murkowski, maybe not.
And all that wasn’t enough, tonight the Tea Party Express (one of the more cash-n-carry of the national Tea Party groups) released a statement calling for the firing of the head of the state Republican party.
The Tea Party Express (website: www.TeaPartyExpress.org) is joining with a coalition of Delaware Republicans and conservative activists in calling for the immediate resignation or termination of Delaware Republican Party Chairman, Tom Ross.
“Tom Ross must resign within the next 24 hours or face immediate termination,” declared Amy Kremer, Chairman of the Tea Party Express.
“As Mike Castle’s chief advocate, Mr. Ross has trashed Republican candidates, beliefs and principles, and shown a complete lack of character or integrity. He is a walking disaster who has brought irreparable harm to the Republican Party.
“Can you imagine the mess Tom Ross will have created when he is Delaware Republican Party Chairman on Tuesday night when Christine O’Donnell becomes the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate? It’s unacceptable, and Tom Ross must quit or be fired immediately.
“Mike Castle should be ashamed of himself for conspiring with Mr. Ross to attack fellow Republicans and conservative activists, all in the process of dishonoring the principles of the Republican Party platform that he was entrusted to represent and is supposed to advocate for,” Kremer said.
You can read the rest here.
