"But ODonnell is different.She is the canary in the coalmine for a level of intraparty bloodletting"

[Pirate Smile]

What O'Donnell's Win Means

You can draw a straight line between the weakness of the Republican Party after Barack Obama's smashing 2008 victory and Tuesday night's victory for Christine O'Donnell over Mike Castle in Delaware's Republican Senate primary.

O'Donnell is the poster woman for the Tea Party – an outsider, backed by Sarah Palin and South Carolina's anti-establishment Senator Jim DeMint, and committed to ridding the GOP of accomodationists like Castle, who is now the poster man for the destruction that is occurring within the Republican Party because not one single leader has done anything to limit or question the power of the Tea Party.

Back in January of 2009, the Republican Party was weaker than either major party has been in several generations. The only thing they lacked as much as ideas, leadership, or organization was energy. The newly minted president made the decision to put congressional Republicans on the spot. They were forced to vote with him on big packages like the stimulus bill, thereby incurring the wrath of their remaining supporters, or vote against him, alienating the center of the electorate. Not willing to give Obama any victories and afraid to lose the only followers they had left, Republicans chose to stay on the hard right. Catering to the Tea Party and sticking to this anti-Obama legislative strategy, the opposition party went into full obstructionist mode on almost every issue, and nearly always unanimously.

Since then, the Tea Party has blossomed and grown in influence. The only Republican politicians who have spoken out against the dangers of turning the Party of Lincoln into the Party of Palin and DeMint were those incumbents such as Utah Senator Bob Bennett, who lost their nomination fights to candidates on their right, after being attacked for even considering compromises with Democrats.

There will be a lot of focus, and rightly so, on the fact that O'Donnell's victory makes it highly likely that Democrats will be able to keep the Delaware seat that was held by Joe Biden – which in turn will make it less likely that the Republicans can win the ten seats they need to take control of the Senate. Castle was a lock to win in the general election; a senior Republican strategist told TIME over the weekend that O'Donnell has zero chance of winning in November.

But the bigger issue is the state of the Republican Party. When it was weak, the GOP was unable to resist the siren song of the Tea Party activists who heeded the dog whistles on Fox News and talk radio, crowded into town hall meetings to attack the Democrats' health care efforts, and focused the party laserlike on the debt and deficit concerns that have positioned Republicans for huge gains in the midterms.

The activism and patriotism of the Tea Partiers are admirable, but the GOP has put itself at risk long term. Republican leaders in Congress and the party's potential 2012 presidential candidates didn't show any public concern when Tea Party-backed candidates like Rand Paul in Kentucky beat establishment choices in primaries. Party strategists have claimed the anti-Obama energy is so strong among the right and center (matched by malaise on the left) that in almost every district and state in the country, the Tea Party label and the sometimes off-beat or extreme views of a Republican nominee won't stand in the way of victory this year with anti-Obama sentiment running so high. They are likely to be right in most cases this year.

But O'Donnell is different. She is the canary in the coalmine for a level of intraparty bloodletting that will likely cost the party one Senate seat in November. And if the GOP establishment doesn't figure out how to build a bigger tent and still win elections, the price Republicans will pay will be a whole lot higher starting on November 3, into the new Congress, and when they try to beat Obama in 2012.

http://thepage.time.com/halperins-take-what-odonnells-win-means/

[DCBob]

1. "The activism and patriotism of the Tea Partiers are admirable" -- yuk

Their activism and patiotism is based on ignorance, hatred, racism and fear of losing power to those they despise... hardly admirable.

[Enthusiast]

2. Yup. There isn't anything 'patriotic' or admirable about

the Tea Party. Flying a flag doesn't make one patriotic. Remember the big deal Reich Wingers made of Obama not wearing a flag pin? They suggested it was evidence that Obama hated America. Who could buy into such a ridiculous suggestion?

I fear my country is in deep trouble. This deep trouble stems from the widespread level of ignorance.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Yeah, that part made me throw up a little bit.

[flpab]

4. she is an idiot

I just got back from Delaware and she had signs everywhere, never saw but a couple Castle signs. They put the money out there for her. I just hope the Dems keep the seat and that the Democratic New Castle county people get out there and vote. Sussex and Kent County have many Rep but hope they wake up and don't vote this wacko in.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Mostly, Halperin is upset that his D's are dead in November narrative is starting to crumble

He has been smugly sitting on that for a while now, and O'Donnell is screwing things up.

[CTyankee]

6. I'm getting a little tired of his (and Heilman's) M.O. They sit there snarking

unpleasantly. I guess they think that is "cool." No Mark and JOhn, Colbert is cool, Stewart is cool. You two are just a pair of snotnoses...

[Cha]

10. Couldn't happen to a more deserving..

mediawhore.

[Jennicut]

7. The big tent is dead for Repubs, they are putting the final nails in the coffin of any moderates

hoping to stay in that party. You can pull this kind of stuff off in certain parts of the country but in the northeast, the states are generally more moderate. Crazies don't get elected. O'Donnell makes Scott Brown look nearly normal. Delaware is most likely gone and in 2012, they will send forth the nuttiest of the nuts and it will do them in.

[FirstTimeVoterAt37]

8. Sometimes I think the teabaggers are the canaries

It's crossed my mind; "It's a midterm, we've got everything stalled regardless, so let's see HOW insane we can be and what kind of votes we get for it - good information to have for 2012..."

[Cognitive_Resonance]

9. The GOP is destroying itself from the inside out. They've poisoned themselves.

They are fast losing credibility as a viable political party. If they can't win control of the House or Senate in 2010 with all the historical and economic tailwinds playing to their advantage, then when can they? By embracing the so-called Tea Party and its whackos they may galvanize their base, but that's not enough to be viable force at the national level. They are driving away sane people in the middle, many of whom are not politically active, but definitely aren't attracted to crazy extremism. They're also galvanizing their opposition. It's a desperate, losing strategy.