O'Donnell Will Have to Represent Delaware, Not the Tea Party

The party fallout over Christine O'Donnell's victory in Delaware continues to dominate the blogs and Memeorandum.  Charles Krauthammer, for example, in his column today reaffirms his statements from earlier in the week that her election is a win for the Democrats and the the Palin and DeMint endorsements were reckless and irresponsible

Can O'Donnell win in the general election?  This article in the CSMonitor suggests that she has become a more mature candidate over time, which seems to indicate that should she run a smart campaign, she could indeed win. Linda Feldman, author of the piece quotes political scientist Joseph Pika who says:

“Democrats could be overconfident,” he continues. “Democrats could be overaggressive – she could quickly become a more sympathetic candidate if everyone seems to pile on. If Democrats seem to practice politics as usual – be seen as committing character assassination, for example – they could confirm the basic appeal she has of challenging the establishment and ‘politics as usual.’ ”

What is important to remember, Tea Party or not, is that the Senator from Delaware must represent the interests of Delaware, not the Tea Party.  If the Tea Party got Christine O'Donnell to the general election, she will still need to convince Delaware voters that she will represent their interests.  She may have to, at times, cast an unpopular vote if it's in the best interest of her state as Scott Brown has had to do for his state.  However, Delaware voters cast their ballots for her so there is apparently some longing for a more conservative track.

Maybe is it just all an anti-incumbent, anti-establishment backlash.  Either way, O'Donnell can still carry the day in November.

Peggy Noonan today explains that Tea Party candidates are being elected partially because voters want them to go to Washington and temper the out of control spending.  Noonan constructs an elaborate yardstick and clock analogy, but she makes a valid point when she says:

"So there's a sense that dramatic action is needed, and a sense of profound urgency. Add drama to urgency and you get the victory of a Tea Party-backed candidate".

The left is already throwing everything they can at Christine O'Donnell, who incidentally has hit the money bomb since Tuesday.  TPMDC, in particular, is dredging up every word and utterance O'Donnell has made in the past twenty years, and O'Donnell is, so far, handling this gracefully.   In a candidate forum yesterday she said

“I was in my twenties and very excited and passionate about my newfound faith. But I can assure you, my faith has matured and when I go to Washington, D.C. it’ll be the Constitution on which I base all of my decisions, not my personal beliefs,” she explained Thursday to cheers.
 

She is definitely a candidate that can win; she's proven that now.  It the end it is important to remember that the Republicans dug the hole they're in themselves and did it a long time ago.  To place the peril of a potential Senate majority in the lap of Christine O'Donnell just isn't fair.  And at this point, I'm not sure if the Republican establishment just may be doing her a favor by railing against her.  While one would hope that the Republican party could unite and come together for the good of the party, it appears that the time for some pruning may be in order.

Christine seems to be doing just fine without them.

(AP Photo)