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Stealth Castle sneaks into GOP meeting in Delaware's most conservative county

By: MARK TAPSCOTT
Editorial Page Editor
08/10/10 7:26 PM EDT

He wasn't on the official agenda, but Rep. Mike Castle, R-DE, who is seeking the GOP nomination to succeed Joe Biden in the U.S. Senate, slipped quietly into a Republican meeting Monday evening, spoke a few minutes, then departed.

That might not rate notice except for the fact Castle wants to be Delaware's next U.S. Senator, and the meeting was in Georgetown, a key city in Delaware's Sussex County, the most conservative of the Small Wonder State's trio of counties.

The official agenda listed such speakers as "The Honorable William S.Lee," "Senator Joe Booth," and some candidates for state legislative offices. But no mention of Castle.

Castle is in an unexpectedly heated primary contest with Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell, who received 35 percent of the vote as the GOP nominee against Biden in 2008.

Castle leads O'Donnell in the polls and also is favored to defeat likely Democratic nominee Chris Coons. So why would Castle keep a low profile in an area that ought to be vote-rich territory for a Republican?

The answer may be that Castle really isn't much of a Republican. As The Examiner's Byron Yorkpointed out in July, "in 2008, he received a rating of 28 (out of 100) from the American Conservative Union, while receiving a rating of 65 from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action."

Castle even co-sponsored the DISCLOSE Act authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, which would have effectively repealed the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United vs FEC decision that killed campaign finance laws barring political advocacy and contributions by corporations and unions.

The contest to succeed Biden is not a regularly scheduled Senate election, but rather a special ballot to serve the remaining four years of Biden's term. That means the winner will be sworn in the day after the election and be able to vote in any lame duck Senate session.

That's why O'Donnell told York that if Castle wins the Sept. 14 primary and is victorious in the general election in November, he will be able to vote with Democrats in a lame duck session.

"Republicans have to decide, who do they want serving in that lame duck session? Do they want Mike Castle, who voted for cap and trade, voted for TARP, voted for cash for clunkers, or do they want a true constitutionalist?" she said.

O'Donnell's campaign has been hobbled by accusations arising from her past financial circumstances, but Delaware Tea Party activists attending a Washington, D.C. training seminar Sunday told The Examiner she remains popular among their colleagues back home.

But Castle may be thinking about the fact insurgent GOPer Sharron Angle came from nowhere to win the Nevada Senate GOP nod earlier this year, largely on the strength of aroused Tea Party activists like those at the Sunday training session. Maybe Castle's low profile reflected his fear of stirring them up in Sussex County and exposing himself to another Tea Party ambush?