Take me out to the softball game…
Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell’s appearance tonight on Sean Hannity’s show came shortly after she canceled multiple appearances on the Sunday morning shows last weekend. And if O’Donnell was looking to dodge potentially unfriendly media waters, Hannity did not disappoint.
Introducing O’Donnell as the woman “Democrats love to hate,” which he called “actually a badge of honor,” Hannity and O’Donnell chatted about everything from those “witchcraft” comments (“teenage rebellion”), to her tax issues (“a computer error”), to her anti-masturbation crusade (“my faith has matured”).
Hannity asked O’Donnell about some of the attacks against her, which he awkwardly pointed out “seem to evolve a little bit around your religious faith and religious issues. Contraception, condoms and AIDS, gay pride, masturbation. All which you’ve heard a lot about. Do you think this is attack on religion?”
“What they’re trying to do,” O’Donnell replied, “is paint me as an extremist, so that people won’t pay attention to my message.”
She continued: “What those statements were about is, in my twenties, I had a new-found faith. And going on these shows I looked at it as a ministry opportunity. That was what I did in my 20s. But that was a long time ago. My faith has matured.”
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O’Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]
O’Donnell also claimed that “there’s no truth to” reports that she owes money in back taxes. “They’re trying to go after an erroneous tax lien that the IRS admitted was a computer error.”
As for falling behind on her mortgage, O’Donnell explained:
I fell behind on my mortgage. I had a pro bono client that to me was very important. I worked 18 hours a day. It was a disabled woman who the courts ruled to remove her feeding tube, so it was truly a life or death case. So when her father came to me he said “I can’t pay you but will you help me save her life?’ And you can’t say no to that.
Hannity also asked O’Donnell whether she was concerned that establishment Republicans, like Karl Rove, had some reservations about her candidacy. Or, as he asked, did she see this as a “badge of honor?”
“I think maybe it’s hard for them to see how this is possible,” O’Donnell replied. “But again I hope that they come around because I’d like to unite the party.”
And, of course, regarding that comment that she “dabbled into witchcraft,” O’Donnell explained that it was “teenage rebellion.”
“Some people dabble in drugs to rebel,” she added. “That’s how I rebelled. But you know, who didn’t do some questionable things in high school, and who doesn’t regret the eighties to some extent? And I most certainly regret bringing it up to Bill Maher.”
As for her opponent, whom Harry Reid referred to as his “pet,” O’Donnell said: “You kind of have to wonder what sort of strange conversations went on to lead to Harry Reid calling him his pet.”
Hannity also established that more national media appearances for O’Donnell are “off the table.”
He ended with this viewer poll on Republican women: “Do you think they’re treated differently than Democratic women?”
Here are the highlights from the interview:
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]
