Has Christine O’Donnell Changed American Politics?
To be sure, Christine O'Donnell's defeat of Mike Castle in the Delaware Primary is a crytalizing moment both for the Right and American politics. That does not mean it is all about her. And even if she were to lose in November, it will not change this moment, nor the fact that establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle are now encountering a force with which they never imagined they would have to contend.
On a mission to retake the hill and reignite the lights of the Shining City, the "almost chosen people" of our Army of Davids have been gaining ground, disintermediating the powers that be using every medium, old and new, to make our voices heard.
Sissy Willis presents it in terms of a question: which is to be master? That question pits a large chorus comprised of voices from mostly average Americans against a professional political, or ruling class – of both parties, in some ways. But that chorus did not begin singing with Christine O'Donnell, nor will it stop with her. She simply represents the latest loud call heard from it thus far.
It began years ago when a class of more pragmatic Americans, from conservative to libertarian, and many things in between, began to find their own voices through technology-enabled new media. It now spans the radio airwaves and a large, growing portion of the Internet. From the debate on the Iraq War, to immigration reform, S-CHIP, and even a Bush nomination to the Supreme Court, it has been heard before. And it's continued to grow louder.
Certainly John McCain's nomination of Sarah Palin as his selection for Vice President presented an opportunity for it to be heard. Now, in Christine O'Donnell, it has won a defining victory – just as it has helped score victories with Sharron Angle, Marco Rubio, Joe Miller, and others. Yet, the battle it is engaged in is just beginning and is far from over. There will be wins and losses in its future. But it will have a future. More than anything else, O'Donnell's victory should assure us of that.
One thing I do believe we need to do is move away from the notion that it is the voice of some far Right in America. It is not that, or, more accurately, not only that. It might best be described as the voice of common sense elevating up from and through the people, as opposed to the voices of elites, primarily educated in Northeastern institutions and embracing a thinking that is, on average, more progressive politically, than it is pragmatic and traditionally American.
The Left and the media would like nothing better than to portray it as a radical and fringe Right, looking to set America back 100 or 200 years. But that is not what these more pragmatic Americans want. What they want is to preserve what is and has always been the best of and in America, as it goes forward, navigating this great nation through increasingly complex and challenging times.
Despite attempts to portray him as such, Reagan did not ultimately emerge successfully as the leader of some far Right, or overly moralistic America. He emerged as a leader of and spokesperson for your average American - men and women who pay their taxes, abide by the laws, and embrace and value liberty for all Americans, as well as this nation's splendid and great history.
Today, as was true in Reagan's time, they want the best for everyone, regardless of their race, skin color, or personal wealth. Yet, they are not obsessed with apolozing for any of America's past mistakes in any regard. These are people who prefer to look forward, work always for the best for all, without getting bogged down in fights unnecesary and inappropriate to today.
In the final analysis, does Christine O'Donnell represent that – warts, or flaws and all? I believe she does. No one ever said all of America's people are perfect. Christine O'Donnell is not perfect and, with help of a sometimes malicious media, Right and Left, some minor flaws were made far more prominent than they ever should have been. It is that she won with them fully exposed that makes her recent victory so compelling and so important as a demonstration of this new movement's power, reach and determination.
The message should be, in my opinion, this great growing influence in American politics, often best put in terms of a Tea Party movement, does not demand purity. It does not demand perfection. It demands a healthy respect for our Constituion and a willingness to have and support common sense values and policies which will pull America back from what has been a long, slow slide toward European socialism since the end of the Reagan era.
If Christine O'Donnell is the latest embodiment of that, then she is deserving of our energetic and unqualified support. Her's is merely one battle of many of the same sort we must fight and win in every instance we can from now, through November, and right on into 2012.
We will not take America back with Christine O'Donnell. We will not take America back in 2012. But if we go forward, more together than we are apart, simply as good Americans, we can and will take America back, one day passing along that gift to our children. And as an American, one born here, who grew up here as a child, there is perhaps no greater gift than an America that sits as "a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere" any man, woman, or child anywhere in the world could hope to receive.
That is why I fought for Christine O'Donnell, despite any flaws. That is why we should all fight for her in November. And we should continue to fight on no matter what the outcome, or challenges that lie ahead. Now, only we can put America back together, again. And we must do just that, not only for ourselves, but for generations of Americans still to come.
All the GOP's fuddy duddies and all the Journolista's men couldn't put the establishment together again!
A rallying cry for conservatives! Great post!
“And we should continue to fight on no matter what the outcome, or challenges that lie ahead. Now, only we can put America back together, again. And we must do just that, not only for ourselves, but for generations of Americans still to come.”
Well said. Thank you.
BUT SHES A WITCH BURN HER!
/Barfbrain
SHE IS UNCONSERVATIVE!
/Caiwyn the hypocrite who claims to be a tea partier but is just using them
Now we need some clever campaign ads with “that ole black magic” and “witchcraft” and so forth… Turn this around on ‘em…;-)
But the bitch is a witch and she hates muslims we need to vote for coons or america is lost
/Sarc
“We will not take America back in 2012. But if we go forward, more together than we are apart, simply as good Americans, we can and will take America back, one day passing along that gift to our children.”
That’s the money quote. Excellent.
How is fighting to help the Democrats keep their majority in the Senate going to change anything?
sorry for calling you a castlebot then
Barfbrain your not fooling anyone democrap
and btw barfbrain if you wanna burn christine o’donnell at the stake for being a witch go ahead although you’ll need carbon credits btw what if republicans get the majority………..oh i forgot you’d hate it
I’m not a conservative, but here’s a question: What the hell good has having a bunch of perfectly vetted* clowns running Washington done anybody on any side? I’d rather have a “normal person” in an elected office than this endless parade of “polished” sphincters that have been drooling over their public pensions and enriching themselves with behind-the-scenes dealmaking since the moment they were shoved out of the womb.
*Until, of course, it turns out that our clean, vetted-by-important-and-all-knowing-people politicians have been molesting congressional pages, have frozen cash fetishes, or have an unusually wide stance.
Moobs,
Keep calling every Republican who doesn’t think O’Donnell is electable a Democrat and you may get your wish.
Christine O’Donnell, in her interest in the occult, was not that far out of the mainstream for the time, especially considering that she was a dumb teenager at the time. Someone who was an ersatz witch when Slayer was making #1 albums? Wow, that’s unusual.
Christine dating a Satanist in 1988 was more normal than Maher, Castle, or Coons supporting gun control now.
barfbrain keep on being a hypocrite and we won’t take you seriously…………oh wait we don’t
hear hear ken
This is one of the best posts of any blog that I’ve ever read. I’ve been critical in the past and I stand by those comments. If this is what you are capable of, you need to stay out of the gutter and be a positive force.
I really didn’t want to compliment you, but in fairness, I must. This is excellent.
i realy didn’t want to compliment you,but in fairness,I must. This is excellent
so in oter words you were against complimenting cubahi before you were for it ;]
other*
cubachi*
and btw evil red scandi wasn’t aware michelle obama was a congress member
Dan’s been rather nasty to me in the past. He doesn’t take criticism very well.
moobs…
a book recommendation…
How To Make Friends And Influence People [positively]…
Get it, STAT…!!!
You are hurting yourself and the cause you say you support.
Evil Red Skandi
By “unusually wide stance” were you referring to Mochelle??
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i support small government but apparently i don’t in your eyes because i call out peoples hypocrisy
You may support small government, Moobs. Cool.
But you pick fights with people who haven’t posted a damn thing yet. And, if people disagree with you on how to get to limited government, they are not the enemy. They support a different route to the same end, frequently. We…you and I…might disagree with them, but it isn’t wise to alienate them. Right?
Your talking sense[Wow] btw i do think o’donnell can win
I agree on O’Donnell. She needs money, and some good advisers (like it or not, PR counts). But considering where she came from in this thing, I think the odds are for her. So, BTW, does Chris Matthews…NTTAWWT…
hey for a second there i forgot chris matthews was a lily white progressive who still lives in his 700 year old moms basement
Believe it or not, Mathhews used to guest-host for Rush. That WAS, of course, before the wheels fell off his wagon.
Thank you, Lenny.
Rags, I was so surprised by your comment that Matthews “used to fill in for Rush, that I had to do a search. The only thing I found was a Rush Wiki entry that claimed that Matthews only ever filled in for Rush once in the late 1990′s. He was never invited back, because of fan disapproval over Matthews left leaning bent. You are correct that Matthews “wheels have come off the wagon” but, he apparently was always a Liberal. Obama just allowed him to come out of the closet, so to speak. That’s happened with ,many. They have put all of their apples in one basket with the O, and, have rendered themselves useless, when One Term Obama, and his radical Progressives, are gone. Everone knows that Obama lies, and, the Matthews have taken the mantra of, that’s the story, and, I’m sticking to it.
Dan- Absolutely your best, 5 star quality post I’ve read. Right on target analysis.
Sandy, it could be a trick of my memory (old), but I seem to recall Matthews guest-hosting several times, and I was surprised at how rational many of his positions were. It could have been the forum, but I didn’t get that.
He REALLY lost his mind back during the Clinton years, seems to me. He’s been quite nasty to Rush since.
“Has Christine O’Donnell Changed American Politics?”
an emphatic, “No”.
has she shown how politics have changed?
yes.
There is only one single entity, above all others, who has changed the face of american politics more than ANYBODY since the founding fathers, and she is from Wasilla.
In less than two years, palin has overthown a political arty and bent it it to her her will. O’donnell is merely a demonstration of her power, which can begin or end ANY gop politician with a few words.
I’ve seen some lefties point to her ‘electability’ as a sign of her popularity and they are very mistaken to confuse the two. She wouldn’t get elected as governor of alaska, again? if she got every single vote in alaska, she would have a little under 700k people, several hundred miles away from the lower 48. The limits are obvious, as are the headaches.
Since leaving her post as governor, how many lawsuits has she faced? i guess the lib plan was to drive her out of politics…how’s that working?
she can PICK the next gop nominee, in less than two years after her first national appearrance. she has DESTROYED a popular politician from delaware, managed by the perceived expert of getting elected, with minimal effort. Her powers are growing exponentially, and in all honesty, the greatest limitation on them would occur if she were to run for president.
she’s 46. she has at least 20 more years to accumulate absolute power. the libs made the tragic mistake of hubris, believing that mocking her and the tea party was a two-fer. They underestimated the power of the tea party and palin, and have merged the two forces. Whether this would have occurred independently is now completely moot, they just made it easier and sooner.
o’donnell is is many ways just a demonstration of her power. the media and the gop establishment is making anther mistake of hubris, which in time, will accelerate her accumulation of strength.
I see the approval polls…palin @ 35%. I’d take 35% of her supporters over the other 65% of the country. Of course, we could just look at 2008, for a quick primer on what 35% of america menas in politics.
high turnout in 2008?
56.8% of eligible voters. that basically means you just need more than 28.4% of eligible voters to win the presidency.
if 80% of the people who approve of palin voted for her in 2008, she would have beaten obama in the popular vote. Libs, and the establishment gop, should learn this point, soon.
personally, and perhaps scarily, I think she has already figured this out. The presidency? why now? she can pick the next 3-4 nominees for the gop, or eventually her own party, before she would even want to consider ending her career as a president.
easily, the most consequential person of our lifetime. I draw a ablank on history providing any other us leader holding such power, and it is STILL growing.
Concur entirely with this article. Excellent analysis.
It’s wonderful to read an accurate portrayal of Ronald Reagan. I see Sarah Palin in the same way, as (in her own words) a ‘Common Sense Conservative’.
It is not comforting, but it is revealing, to see the establishment GOP rising against regular people who lack the ‘perfect’ background, but who have in fact matured into responsible mature adults with conservative values. The truth, of course, usually is that those with the ‘perfect’ background have something significant hiding in their protected past. Further concur on Powerline; I was once a daily fan, but Paul’s relentless attacks on Palin poisoned that blog for me.
Again, well done.
Best regards, Peter Warner.
we’re doomed if ppl care more about trying to get the anti-witch and pro-masturbation votes instead of trying to stop the government from running away spending