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Tea Party triumph
Published: September 15 2010 22:01 | Last updated: September 15 2010
22:01
Republican voters in Delaware’s Senate primary on Tuesday gave the
beleaguered Democratic party the best news it has had for months. They
nominated Christine O’Donnell, who was backed by Tea Party activists
and by Sarah Palin, queen of the anti-incumbent insurgency – and thus,
in all likelihood, handed a Senate seat they would have won in
November back to the other side.

Odd choices have been far from rare in this campaign, but Ms
O’Donnell’s nomination sets a demanding new standard for stupidity.
Her history is erratic: she has struggled for years with debt and with
the Internal Revenue Service, and has been accused by fellow
Republicans of mismanagement. She fought a dirty campaign against Mike
Castle, her Republican rival, that alienated mainstream Republicans.
Her positions on sexual morality might be seen as stern in Utah or
Mississippi. Unfortunately, Delaware is a liberal, north-eastern state.

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Before the primary, the moderate Mr Castle had been expected to swing
the state formerly represented by vice-president Joe Biden over to the
Republicans without much trouble. Many Republicans now write it off as
unwinnable.

If Republicans do as well nationally as they hope to in November, they
will challenge Democratic control not just in the House but also in
the Senate, where the rotation of seats makes that task harder. Along
with Nevada, where the Tea Party revived Democratic hopes by
nominating another bad candidate (though Sharron Angle looks
impressive in comparison with Ms O’Donnell), Delaware could make the
difference.

There is more at stake than even the Senate race. With this
nomination, anti-incumbent feeling among grass-roots Republicans has
set the party against itself. Ms O’Donnell, hitherto an embarrassing
curiosity (or a promising one, according to your point of view), is
now a national figure and will face a media onslaught. Democrats will
cast her as the face of the new Republicans – a strategy that might
bring moderates and independents back to the fold, or at least
diminish their zeal to vote.

The implications also extend to Ms Palin’s future role. Many
conservative Republicans, to say nothing of moderate ones, are furious
that she intervened in Ms O’Donnell’s favour. If this nomination does
as much harm to the party as Democrats hope, this will not be
forgotten – and the prospects for uniting the party in a way that
includes her and her fans will be that much worse.