Opinion of Christine O'Donnell

[Sewer]

If God created everything then what created God?

[tpfkaw]

If God created everything then what created God?

The people who wrote the Bible.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

A truly evil woman who would be best served with some time institutionalized.

And why is she evil? I think Coons is evil.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

it certainly wouldn't have been a lonely crusade-- if not a winning one.

nonsense.  I guess I'm just not buying that.  Consider the evidence all around you.  Folks in this forum (a relatively mild-mannered lot) are excoriating her.  And folks in the popular media (a not-so-mild-mannered lot) are also having fun with the crusade.  I have no doubt that when she was making the statements she was being picked on, and would also have been picked on by your classmates in your school.  Clearly she's up against the machine, being ridiculed, no less so now for taking on the GOP establishment, than 20 years ago for making the anti-masturbation campaign. Huge balls, she has.

Angus, I'm disappointed in you.  You've clearly fallen for her narrative when nothing could be further from the truth.

Moderate Republicans, or "RINOs" as we're called by folks like O'Donnell, are a minority in the Republican Party and have been under siege for decades and losing our last beachheads.  TEH GOP OMG!ESTABLISHMENTTTT!OMG is only involved to the extent that their job is to get behind candidates that they believe have a better shot at moving the ball forward and increasing Republican gains.

I realize that O'Donnell may have been made fun of for her extreme views.  But did that give her supporters the right to act like schoolyard bullies and claim that Mike Castle was gay?

Mike Castle has a long-term relationship with the people of Delaware and with the Republican Party of Delaware, who officially supported his campaign.  Well-funded and well-organized groups from outside the state, such as the Tea Party Express, targeted Castle as yet one more opportunity to knock off one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in elected office.  These groups arrogantly came in, preyed on the prejudices and jealousies of the Republican primary electorate, and replaced a moderate candidate who was likely to win the general election with an ultra-conservative candidate who has lost twice before -- and who by all indications will lose again to a 'bearded marxist.'

She's not 'up against the machine', she's fully supported by wealthy ultra-conservatives who want to protect their rights to destroy our environment and their crusade to turn back decades of progress on rights for gay and lesbian Americans.  The national ultra-conservative machine beat out the Wilmington, Delaware machine.... and you applaud it like it was some sort of glorious accomplishment.

[Beet]

it certainly wouldn't have been a lonely crusade-- if not a winning one.

nonsense.  I guess I'm just not buying that.  Consider the evidence all around you.  Folks in this forum (a relatively mild-mannered lot) are excoriating her.  And folks in the popular media (a not-so-mild-mannered lot) are also having fun with the crusade.  I have no doubt that when she was making the statements she was being picked on, and would also have been picked on by your classmates in your school.  Clearly she's up against the machine, being ridiculed, no less so now for taking on the GOP establishment, than 20 years ago for making the anti-masturbation campaign. Huge balls, she has.

Dude, are you kidding? She's raking in millions. She's a national celebrity. She's on the cover of Newsweek. If that's f--king persecution BRING IT ON!!!

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

it certainly wouldn't have been a lonely crusade-- if not a winning one.

nonsense.  I guess I'm just not buying that.  Consider the evidence all around you.  Folks in this forum (a relatively mild-mannered lot) are excoriating her.  And folks in the popular media (a not-so-mild-mannered lot) are also having fun with the crusade.  I have no doubt that when she was making the statements she was being picked on, and would also have been picked on by your classmates in your school.  Clearly she's up against the machine, being ridiculed, no less so now for taking on the GOP establishment, than 20 years ago for making the anti-masturbation campaign. Huge balls, she has.

Angus, I'm disappointed in you.  You've clearly fallen for her narrative when nothing could be further from the truth.

Moderate Republicans, or "RINOs" as we're called by folks like O'Donnell, are a minority in the Republican Party and have been under siege for decades and losing our last beachheads.  TEH GOP OMG!ESTABLISHMENTTTT!OMG is only involved to the extent that their job is to get behind candidates that they believe have a better shot at moving the ball forward and increasing Republican gains.

We?

Don, STOP PRETENDING TO BE A MODERATE.

Moderates don't consider George W. Bush to be their favorite politician, nor do they consider college education to be Marxist brainwashing.

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It was a glorious accomplishment. A horrible man with a horrible record was successfully driven out of the race by the primary voters of Delaware, in a fair and democratic election.

[tpfkaw]

Seriously, if you like Mike Castle that much, why don't you marry him?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Seriously, if you like Mike Castle that much, why don't you marry him?

Despite O'Donnell's bogus claims, he's happily married.

[tpfkaw]

Seriously, if you like Mike Castle that much, why don't you marry him?

Despite O'Donnell's bogus claims, he's happily married.

And happier still, he's going to be "spending more time with his family."

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Moderates don't consider George W. Bush to be their favorite politician, nor do they consider college education to be Marxist brainwashing.

President Bush is being excoriated on the right for his policies on issues such as immigration and TARP - policies that one might consider to be rather moderate.

My statement regarding college education was a bit overzealous - but I certainly stand behind the idea that a person who chooses to serve their country in the military should be treated with as much or more respect than one who chooses to listen to a bunch of claptrap at one of our institutions of 'higher learning'.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Seriously, if you like Mike Castle that much, why don't you marry him?

Despite O'Donnell's bogus claims, he's happily married.

And happier still, he's going to be "spending more time with his family."

True.  And Christine O'Donnell will make a good living on the speaking circuit, propped up by ultra-conservative organizations.   And Chris Coons will have to order new drapes for his Senate office.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Moderates don't consider George W. Bush to be their favorite politician, nor do they consider college education to be Marxist brainwashing.

President Bush is being excoriated on the right for his policies on issues such as immigration and TARP - policies that one might consider to be rather moderate.

No, those aren't moderate positions nor is Bush a moderate. He is a neocon, and a rather extreme one at that. Lots of moderates left the GOP because of Dubya's extremism.

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Moderates don't think that. In fact "moderate Republicans" are generally wealthy college-educated suburbanites in the Northeast or out West, most of whom were never in the military. You don't fit the mold at all in any way.

[Ban my account ffs!]

She dabbled in witchcraft, but has seemed to have done more than that in insanity.

[Franzl]

Claiming that life sprang from pond scum is more extraordinary then divine intervention.

Still haven't responded to my point about believing in God not being the automatic opposite of believing in "nothing".

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

If God created everything then what created God?

The people who wrote the Bible.

God wrote the Bible. Therefore...

[fezzyfestoon]

If God created everything then what created God?

The people who wrote the Bible.

God wrote the Bible. Therefore...

With his heavenly cloud hands?

[Fuzzybigfoot]

HP, unless I think relativistically.

[Earth]

Claiming that life sprang from pond scum is more extraordinary then divine intervention.

A natural process as opposed to a creator being is more extraordinary? A thing we know nothing about consciously molding life is less extraordinary than the 'pond scum' option? C'monnnnnnnnnn.

[angus]

Angus, I'm disappointed in you.  You've clearly fallen for her narrative when nothing could be further from the truth.

Moderate Republicans, or "RINOs" as we're called by folks like O'Donnell, are a minority in the Republican Party and have been under siege for decades and losing our last beachheads.  TEH GOP OMG!ESTABLISHMENTTTT!OMG is only involved to the extent that their job is to get behind candidates that they believe have a better shot at moving the ball forward and increasing Republican gains.

I realize that O'Donnell may have been made fun of for her extreme views.  But did that give her supporters the right to act like schoolyard bullies and claim that Mike Castle was gay?

Mike Castle has a long-term relationship with the people of Delaware and with the Republican Party of Delaware, who officially supported his campaign.  Well-funded and well-organized groups from outside the state, such as the Tea Party Express, targeted Castle as yet one more opportunity to knock off one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in elected office.  These groups arrogantly came in, preyed on the prejudices and jealousies of the Republican primary electorate, and replaced a moderate candidate who was likely to win the general election with an ultra-conservative candidate who has lost twice before -- and who by all indications will lose again to a 'bearded marxist.'

She's not 'up against the machine', she's fully supported by wealthy ultra-conservatives who want to protect their rights to destroy our environment and their crusade to turn back decades of progress on rights for gay and lesbian Americans.  The national ultra-conservative machine beat out the Wilmington, Delaware machine.... and you applaud it like it was some sort of glorious accomplishment.

You make some good points, but the fact remains that she does stand up to the abuse pretty well.  Which, to me, is admirable.  

I can't vouch for her supporters, and I'm not trying to.  I'm only making statements about her.  The bit about Castle being gay is irrelevant to my point of view in this thread, although I agree that it was in poor taste, and unnecessary, and, for all we know, untrue.  

Were I a Delaware voter, I'm not sure whether I'd vote for O'Donnell.  I'm ambivalent on this somewhat.

On the one hand, I would like to see the Republicans take control of both houses of congress this year.  Of course that is unlikely, but to the extent that it might happen, Delaware is key, so I would want to vote for her for that reason.

On the other hand, she's a freedom fighter, and therefore an idealist.  I don't want to see any more idealists in congress.  The Bolsheviks were idealists.  The Nazis were idealists.  Idealism is such a drag, and putting idealists in power usually makes a big mess of everything, so it is best avoided.  Rather than freedom fighters, we need to elect pragmatists to congress.  We need people of good judgment.  True freedom fighters rarely have good judgment, and are motivated largely by ideological concerns.  

Also, her priorities aren't quite the same as mine.  (The anti-masturbation campaign was a long time ago, but that tells me she's pretty far removed from my own philosophies.)  Also, she's something of a Social/Cultural Conservative, which can be off-putting.  If she were strictly a Tea Party Conservative, that’d be one thing, but she has about one too many ideological purities for my tastes.  For these reasons, I'd be tempted not to vote for her.  

To be honest, I suppose that my desire to see a Republican-controlled congress might win out, but since I don't live in Delaware I don't follow any of it that closely.  I'm not aware of a third or fourth candidate I really like, and I don't know how much I like or dislike Coon.  I might also be tempted to write Castle’s name in since he’s running a legit write-in campaign.  Then again I might vote for O’Donnell.  At this point I can't say how I’d vote if I were living in Delaware, but in any case don't construe any of my earlier statements as endorsements of her supporters, or as an endorsement of her candidacy.  I'm just answering a specific question:  yes, in my opinion she's a Freedom Fighter.

[Beet]

We'll have to disagree on whether she's a FF. You think the abuse she takes outweighs the adoration and money she receives. I think the opposite. We'll have to agree to disagree.

On hopefully a more objective note, Delaware is not all that key to the Republicans' chances of taking Congress... it's about their 55th seat (numbers here, The Vorlon agrees with me, if you read further down that thread). Probably about 95% of the scenarios where the GOP takes the Senate has them losing Delaware.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I've decided that I will vote for her in November.

Yep seriously. The Hennepin County Sheriff, who is both an asshole and a Republican (he only got elected because it's a non-partisan election and his main opponent was very weak) is running unopposed. So the only way to vote against him is a write-in. So why not go with a total joke just for kicks? She's not eligible anyway.

[opebo]

You make some good points, but the fact remains that she does stand up to the abuse pretty well.  Which, to me, is admirable.

Hitler was also a rather stalwart fellow.

On the one hand, I would like to see the Republicans take control of both houses of congress this year.  Of course that is unlikely, but to the extent that it might happen, Delaware is key, so I would want to vote for her for that reason.

In the first place that is in fact very likely, but why would you want such a thing?  Your political positions bear no reasonable relationship with your personal behaviors or class interests.

On the other hand, she's a freedom fighter, and therefore an idealist.

No, she's fighting in oppostion to freedom, angus. 
 

To be honest, I suppose that my desire to see a Republican-controlled congress might win out,

I still don't see why you favor the oppressive party.  You work for a university - thus your bread is buttered to the left.  You claim to have some kind of hedonistic tendencies, and though I suppose those are all in the past, I find it hard to believe you look forward to the theocracy.  You make a huge salary, certainly, but not enough to be harmed by centrist economic policies.  Quite frankly, you are too old to still be stuck on adolescent Randian fantasies of individualism.  I really can't see why you take your irresponsbile line in politics.

[memphis]

I voted HP, but she is giving the Dems a Senate seat on a silver platter. And she is helping make the GOP look bad. She may be an accidental FF.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Claiming that life sprang from pond scum is more extraordinary then divine intervention.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller-Urey_experiment

...I will not respond if your response is BS pseudo-science

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Christine O'Donnell is not a horrible person.  She is not a freedom fighter either.  She's someone who holds some very extreme moral views that I believe should not be present in what's supposed to be a working, legislative body.