What does it mean to have one of our major parties the exclusive domain of loonies and scumbags?

"[T]he larger question is whether the country is ready to deliver a majority to a Republican Party that now holds problem-solvers like [Delaware GOP Rep. Mike] Castle in contempt; is scared to death of a well-financed right wing that parades under a false populist banner; and, in primary after primary, has aligned itself with Sarah Palin, who anointed O'Donnell one of her Grizzlies."

-- E. J. Dionne Jr. in his Washington Post column today,

"Mike Castle's defeat -- and the end of moderate Republicanism"

by Ken

As if the endless campaign seasons and the elections themselves weren't bad enough, am I the only one who dreads almost more all the post-election blather from our anointed professional natterers? With those elections, at least there's a chance that some good may have come out , whereas with the natterers, well . . . you know. And primaries can be even worse, since these are elections that are by definition part of the ongoing campaign-and-election cycle.

It's an alarming spectacle, all those Village oracles (in their own minds, at least) either spewing conventional wisdom, or trying to figure out what the conventional wisdom should be, or offering their "correctives" to the conventional wisdom, which is to say their versions of you-know-what. And when I take aim at Village oracles, I don't mean just people who hunker down inside that sleepy village on the Potomac. Just as you don't have to be physically in the Village to be of it (it's more a matter of state of mind, or often who signs your paycheck), it's actually possible to be a geographical villager without being, you know, a Villager. Obvious case in point: the Washington Post's tirelessly gentle and sane E. J. Dionne Jr.

In the column today from which I've already quoted, Dionne explains that he paid a visit Monday night, the evening before the election, to the campaign headquarters of Delaware Rep. Mike Castle for what had once seemed a shoe-in run to the Republican nomination for the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Vice President Biden. The next day, as we all know, Castle, now 71, would have his political career brought to an abrupt end by professional crazyperson Christine O'Donnell, one of this electoral season's beneficiaries of the right-wing media craziness that has taken hold in the land.

I certainly wasn't looking forward to Castle taking his place in the Senate, which everyone seems pretty certain would have been the case if he had won the Republican nomination -- just as certain as most everyone is that the unspeakable O'Donnell person almost certainly doesn't have a ghost of a chance now of defeating the Democratic nominee, Chris Coons. Even the less crazed crazies of the Republican Far Right have recoiled in horror from the O'Donnell candidacy.

(Of course crazies are crazies, and Steve Benen tells the tragicomic tale of "news commentator" Karl Rove, after talking trash about O'Donnell on the air Tuesday night, now claiming that he not only supports her but in fact endorsed her Tuesday night. He's lying, of course, but Karl Rove lying isn't exactly breaking news. What's interesting is that he has chosen to tell this set of lies.)

At the same time, traditional corporatist Republican that Castle may be, the tradition of Republicans to which he belongs is a different species from today's, and is now apparently more or less officially extinct. Castle was and is a serious political person, committed to actually making government work. And Monday night, as E. J. Dionne reports, he seemed to see the handwriting on the wall.

Representative Castle conceding defeat Tuesday night

He seemed calm and confident, yet almost everything he said sounded valedictory as he offered a prescient analysis that explained in advance a defeat that echoed across the nation.

A genial and courtly man in the manner of the elder President Bush (who held a fundraiser for him in Kennebunkport, Maine), the nine-term member of Congress was mourning the decline of both the conciliatory style of politics that animated his career and the moderate Republican disposition that the Tea Party is determined to destroy.

"There are issues on which, as Republicans and Democrats, we should sit down and work out our differences," Castle said Monday night as we sat outside at Kelly's Logan House, a watering hole where he has gathered his closest supporters the night before every election since his first victory, for the neighborhood's state legislative seat, in 1966.

Republicans who might be inclined toward the middle of the road, he said, are petrified of "quick attacks by columnists and the Sean Hannitys of the world. People are very afraid of crossing the line and being called Republicans in Name Only -- or worse." As a result, "not too many members are willing to stand up."

One of the things Republicans who don't wholly embrace the craziness fear is just the sort of primary challenge Castle found himself up against in his Senate bid. "This election," he told Dionne, "has shown the power of very conservative groups."

Castle's defeat at the hands of Christine O'Donnell, a perennial candidate who may be the least qualified Senate nominee anywhere in the country, does indeed mark the collapse of the Republican Party not only of Nelson Rockefeller and Tom Dewey but also of Bob Dole and Howard Baker.

After two decades in which moderates fled a party increasingly dominated by its right wing, the Republican primary electorate has been reduced to nothing but its right wing. O'Donnell, boosted by a last minute anti-Castle spending spree from the California-based Tea Party Express, pulled off her revolution with a little more than 30,000 votes. That's all it took to seize control of a once Grand Old Party in which the center no longer has the troops.

Dionne wants us to understand the significance of what happened Tuesday in Delaware.

Castle's defeat at the hands of Christine O'Donnell, a perennial candidate who may be the least qualified Senate nominee anywhere in the country, does indeed mark the collapse of the Republican Party not only of Nelson Rockefeller and Tom Dewey but also of Bob Dole and Howard Baker.

After two decades in which moderates fled a party increasingly dominated by its right wing, the Republican primary electorate has been reduced to nothing but its right wing. O'Donnell, boosted by a last minute anti-Castle spending spree from the California-based Tea Party Express, pulled off her revolution with a little more than 30,000 votes. That's all it took to seize control of a once Grand Old Party in which the center no longer has the troops. . . .

The conventional Washington talking point holds that as Republicans have moved right, the Democrats have moved left. But this is patently false -- just count the number of moderate Democratic House members. And one politician who sees no equivalence is Castle. The domination of a party by its most ideological wing, he said, "is a more extensive problem right now in the Republican Party than in the Democratic Party."

He also offered a prediction: "I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that my opponent could not win a general election in this state for this seat -- or any other seat."

DWT readers are only too familiar with the O'Donnell-equivalent candidates all over the country who have won Republican nominations through similar electoral processes. Delaware would seem less fertile ground for the ultra-crazies than many of the other states staring at similar contests in the general election, but the question with which Dionne concludes applies to all of them:

Will moderate voters take a chance on the preposterous proposition that this Republican Party will turn around and work in a calm, bipartisan way with President Obama? Or will they use their ballots to wake up the Republicans and tell them that they need more Mike Castles, and fewer extremists?

#

Boehnerland

Born out of the GOP's politics of resentment and self-victimization, surly and ignorant teabaggers managed to cut off their collective noses to spite their face Tuesday. And their fuehrer, South Carolina secessionist and C Street cult member, Jim DeMint, says it's worth losing a sure GOP pick-up in Delaware-- with mainstream conservative Mike Castle-- to send a message to the Republican Establishment that it has to move even further right, via the increasingly controversial Miss No Turning Japanese Allowed (above). As Fred Barnes reminded Weekly Standard readers yesterday, Castle "voted against ObamaCare and is a co-sponsor of repeal legislation.  He voted against the stimulus. He’s for extending all the Bush tax cuts."

And he's exactly like John Boehner, leader of the House Republicans, in many other ways as well. Both are more corporatist than ideological and both are grateful to the corporate interests that have financed their long, long political careers. (Remember, Boehner, a freeloader who hasn't really worked since he was a teenager, lives in the only gated community in Ohio's 8th congressional district, more than symbolically separated from his own constituents.) Both of them were leaders in the passage of George Bush's no-strings-attached Wall Street TARP bailout and both have been relentless backers of deregulating banks and relentless backers of the job-killing trade policies-- from NAFTA and CAFTA, to the WTO/GATT that have wrecked America's manufacturing base and shipped millions of middle class jobs overseas to low wage countries (killing, in the process, business' consumer base as well, of course). Castle, in a deeply blue, more politically competitive environment, has had to handle the p.r. a little differently than Boehner. Basically, though, both have just wanted their constituents to go away and stop bothering them while they profited mightily in Boehnerland, a proverbial land of milk and honey for well-connected legislators with a loose set of ethical standards.

Today's Dayton Daily News highlights Boehner's fear and arrogance in an article about Justin Coussoule. Like the other media outlets in the district, the Daily News in not happy Boehner is ducking debates and behaving imperiously towards them and towards Ohio voters.

[S]o far, Justin Coussoule, a Liberty Twp. Democrat, said Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., hasn’t accepted-- and doubts he will.

“Boehner as the incumbent seeking re-election has an obligation to stand before the voters to make a case to be rehired,” Coussoule said.

The first-time public office seeker said he also must make his case if he hopes to oust the incumbent. Coussoule said Boehner is either “afraid” or “too arrogant” to debate.

“We ought to have an opportunity for the voters to hear us both in the same room on the same topics and be able to answer questions and be able to compare and contrast,” Coussoule said... In a Sept. 8 Butler County News and Issues blog posting at journal-news.com titled “The ‘debate’ debate,” some respondents said they wanted to see a debate, and one poster said Boehner is “ignoring his own constituents.”

Back t Delaware lunatic fringe teabagger for a moment. I doubt O'Donnell has a real chance of winning in November, but I agree with those who think she'd be a better choice for the right than Castle-- at least for a year... until her natural instincts as a crook kick into high gear. Someday she may be as good at crookedness as a John Boehner. Meanwhile, though, America is stuck with John Boehner either as an obstructionist Minority Leader or, worse, as Speaker of the House.


Notice Boehner's tie above. That isn't photoshopped. That's what he was wearing the other day: a big fish eating a little fish. It's his world. It's an integral part of Boehnerland. He's willing to block tax deductions for 97% of taxpayers if Democrats don't allow tax breakers for the already fat and sassy 3% of wealthiest families. The small fish getting eaten by the big fish, the big fish who have been so good to John Boehner that he'd screw over the people who vote for him in Butler, Miami, Mercer, Darke, Montgomery and Preble counties. That's the other side of Boehnerland.

Blue America and the Americans For America PAC know full well that there's only one person who can stop John Boehner. It isn't Barack Obama and it isn't Nancy Pelosi. It's not the DNC or the DCCC, although it would be nice if either or even both, would lend a hand; it's Justin Coussoule, the progressive Democrat running for the Ohio seat Boehner has been disgracing for two decades. Below is the latest ad we made to hammer home to southwest Ohio voters that, for the first time ever, they actually have a viable alternative to more Boehnerland. If you feel the spirit, please help us keep our ads on TV in Ohio from now until November. You can do it here on our Blue America ActBlue page or by sending a check to Blue America PAC, PO Box 27201, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Has The GOP Lost Its Collective Mind? And What The Hell Is Going On In Delaware?

You may think Sharron Angle, Joe Miller, Rand Paul, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey are the biggest crackpots running for the Senate this year? (Please don't get me started on the batch of drooling miscreants they have running for the House and other positions, like the Ohio meth freak in the video above). Well, who could argue? At least today... but let's revisit this after Tuesday's GOP primary in Delaware. There's a chance-- a small one-- that the Tea Bag Express could take out mainstream conservative corporate shill Mike Castle (a major Wall Street darling) and replace him with someone on a Sharron Angle/Rand Paul level, Christine O'Donnell. In fact, a friend of mine described her as "like a less polished Sharron Angle." Chew on that!

Short version: O'Donnell is another extremist and radical far removed from the American mainstream, almost like Joe Miller. Her latest tactic is to question Mike Castle's sexuality and imply that he's a closet case-- a possible Lindsey Graham, Larry Craig or Mitch McConnell type of character. That's the rumor... ha, ha, ha. Any proof? Conservatives usually attack Democrats with the smears and they're used to not bothering with proof. Now they're turning it on their own. (Not that Castle hasn't fought back-- with a website painting O'Donnell as a crook and a kook, who plays fast and loose with her campaign contributions.)

O'Donnell's got Castle so scared that he's spending money hand over fist in a primary he never thought he would have to spend a nickel on. And the Tea Party Express is putting their money into the race. Both sides are being financed by shady financiers of right-wing causes, Wall Street in Castle's case, power-mad and dangerous plutocratic families in O'Donnell's case, the same families that just replaced mainstream conservative Lisa Murkowski with lunatic fringe Joe Miller in Alaska. In fact, Sarah Palin has weighed in on O'Donnell's side against Castle, who voted-- twice-- for Bush's no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout (TARP) and for all the horrible trade policies that have sent U.S. jobs overseas. Yesterday the NRA also endorsed her. And yesterday evening:



The Delaware Republican Party is panicking that there one chance for a Senate seat in years is in jeopardy because of the perception most people in the state-- including many Republicans-- is that O'Donnell is out of her mind. Now-- not unlike the Tallahassee GOP bosses down in Florida and that state's Tea Party, the Delaware GOP Establishment and the teabaggers are taking each other to court.

The Republican Party of Delaware has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing one of its own Senate candidates of illegally collaborating with the Tea Party Express.

Attorneys for the state party asked the FEC to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into conservative GOP candidate Christine O'Donnell "to remedy the alleged violations and to ensure that these violations immediately cease and do not reoccur," according to the complaint filed Thursday.

O'Donnell, who faces Rep. Mike Castle in Tuesday's primary, came under fire from the state party shortly after tea-party backed candidate Joe Miller upset Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska GOP primary.

Following the Alaska race, the Tea Party Express redirected its efforts to Delaware. The organization's chairwoman Amy Kremer noted that 10 staffers are on site and vowed to spend $250,000 to help O'Donnell before the primary.

The complaint alleges that the O'Donnell campaign is "knowingly accepting illegal campaign contributions from the Tea Party Express PAC." It cites two "alarming" instances:

-- O'Donnell has knowingly accepted excessive contributions from the Tea Party Express that were directly solicited on behalf of the O'Donnell campaign, according to the filing.

-- O'Donnell has accepted illegal excessive contributions from the Tea Party Express by engaging in a statewide coordinated communications effort in support of her campaign. This means, according to the complaint, that every advertisement that is being run by the Tea Party Express in support of Ms. O'Donnell is a violation of Federal law.

The issue won't be resolved before Tuesday.

An FEC spokeswoman said it was "highly unlikely that the case could be expedited before the primary."

Delaware State GOP Chairman Tom Ross offered this statement:

"Christine O'Donnell needs to immediately call upon her third party supporters to cease and desist this illegal behavior," he said. "This type of behavior has no place in our political process, and O'Donnell should denounce these illegal ads. Donors deserve to know whether they made an illegal donation so they can demand a refund and get their money back."

This sets up the grounds in advance to challenge O'Donnell's victory on Tuesday if enough crazed Fox viewers and Limbaugh listeners turn out for the vote-- it's a closed primary; only Republicans can vote-- and get her nominated. Few know that she's adamantly opposed to extramarital sex and masturbation or that she's a "movement conservative." Polling shows that Castle and O'Donnell are in a statistical dead heat among likely voters-- and that conservative Democrat Chris Coons would beat O'Donnell by double digits.

Will Delaware Teabaggers Hurt Mike Castle-- He Doesn't Think So

Castle, courtesy of our pals at Delaware Liberal

Though he's moved awkwardly to the right, Delaware Congressman Mike Castle, isn't fooling any teabaggers.

Castle ranked among the top 10 House Republicans in his support for Obama, siding with the president nearly 56 percent of the time on votes where Obama took a clear position, a Congressional Quarterly vote study showed. On average, House Republicans supported Obama's position on 26 percent of votes last year.

During President George W. Bush's last year in office, Castle voted with his position less often -- 41 percent of the time.

Castle also ranked 17th among 177 House Republicans in the number of times he voted out of sync with most other members of his party. The study showed he voted against his party 24 percent of the time. In 2008, he ranked 6th, voting against the majority of his party nearly 30 percent of the time.

A more reliable ProgressivePunch look at substantive votes only shows that Castle is the fourth most likely Republican to have crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats-- after Libertarian Ron Paul and former Democrats Rodney Alexander and Ralph Hall. Castle's record is exactly tied with Parker Griffith's, Alabama's freshly minted Republican who was a Democrat two weeks ago.

Castle, who has not exactly endeared himself to the extremists in his own party-- and is absolutely loathed by birthers, deathers, gun-nuts and teabaggers. He's not likely to pass any meaningful purity test being demanded by the right-wing of his party and the Club For Growth is already complaining that he's refusing to sign their latest crazy pledge to repeal healthcare reform. Although Club For Growth has bamboozled 11 Republican candidates in 5 contested primaries-- including another self-proclaimed "moderate," Mark Kirk-- to take their rather extreme pledge, Castle hasn't buckled yet.

The NRSC is doing everything in their power to push his candidacy, despite a spirited primary challenge from Fox News propagandist and anti-choice fanatic Christine O'Donnell (the wing-nut Biden swamped last year). They feel O'Donnell, a teabagger fave, is unelectable, especially in a state Obama took 62-37%. Yesterday the NRSC and NRC gave Castle the opportunity to showcase himself as the Republican tasked with his party's weekly radio address. He talked about how much he supports Obama's war policy in Afghanistan.

It remains to be seen how much of a stink the teabaggers will make over Republicans who have voted against them on all their issues. If they withhold their support from Castle... well, it won't mean much in his primary battle, but without their votes he won't win the general election against Beau Biden.

What Can We Expect From The Democrat Likely To Take Mike Castle's Delaware House Seat?

The Republicans are looking to swap a House seat for a far more important Senate seat. And Delaware is one of the few states-- Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Vermont and Montana being the other six-- where the constituents of a sole House member are also the exact same constituents of each senator.

Delaware has been a reliably Democratic state, and Obama won it last year with 62%, up from Kerry's 53% in 2004 and Gore's 55% in 2000. Delaware's at-large congressman, ex-Governor Mike Castle, was first elected in 1992. He wins by a lot. While Obama was racking up a 62-37% landslide over McCain and Biden was sweeping as a senator everyone knew would never serve again (65%), Castle did nearly as well with 61% of the vote. He's one of the last mainstream conservatives in the Republican caucus-- and the teabaggers aren't too fond of him. We're going to save his primary race against Fox News propagandist and anti-choice fanatic Christine O'Donnell (the wing-nut Biden swamped last year) and the general election race that will pit him against Vice President Biden's son Beau for another time. Today we'll take a look at the House seat Castle is giving up.

The Democrats will likely nominate former Lieutenant Governor John Carney (who was earlier Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Tom Carper, currently one of the most conservative DLC Democrats in the Senate). Carney's Web site offers no policy positions, usually the mark of a corporate conservative trying to put one over on working families. Is that what we can expect from Carney?

Well, he has a reputation as a sincere and committed environmentalist, so that's good. But he's also known as a Chamber of Commerce Democrat and... well, that's bad. People in Delaware who know him, like our friend Nancy Willing, say he's open-minded, guileless and has a good heart. And that he isn't motivated by personal greed the way Carper is. I had some help from some of the folks at Progressive Democrats of Delaware and from the great Delaware bloggers at Delaware Liberal. Let me quote some of the trusted Delaware voices, starting with Rebecca Young of Progressive Democrats of Delaware:

John is a solid Democrat with solid Democratic values. Having said that, he's also a pragmatist. He won't let perfection get in the way of progress. He got pretty beaten up at the last Progressive Dems for Delaware meeting and he never did disavow the Blue Dogs-- at least that's what I heard. His reply was along the lines of what I said above. He's willing to take incremental steps forward if that's all he can realistically get. John will never be like Rep. Grayson from Florida, but he is solid on his progressive values, and he knows how to work legislation. On the other hand, his campaign style is very centrist. I guess he feels safe there.

I didn't find any opinions that diverged from Rebecca's.

The person who asked him if he was going to wind up as part of the Blue Dog Caucus at the PDD meeting was Delaware Liberal blogger Unstable Isotope, who thinks Carney was a little squirrely on that. "He said he liked to think of himself as a progressive but he came across as more of a pragmatist. I did ask him point blank if he would join the Blue Dog caucus and he avoided the question."

Fellow Delaware Liberal blogger Pandora says Carney lives two blocks from her, in a neighborhood of working families, and that on a personal level he "comes across as pretty progressive. He's walking the talk. Over the years I've had a handful of conversations with him, and we seem to line up politically. Maybe he's playing me, but I tend to think not... simply because he hasn't packed up and moved to Hockessin" (a relatively rich suburb northwest of Wilmington).

Nemski, also from Delaware Liberal, says Carney "is more pragmatic than progressive, but if you're looking for a strong liberal congressman, I don't think you could go wrong with supporting Carney."

Cassandra_M, also at Delaware Liberal, is asking the blog's readers today for input on Carney. She's cautiously hopeful that "his loss in the gubernatorial primary to Jack Markell in 2008 may have liberated him from the establishment and from his mentor" (the horrid Carper).

This video was from his gubernatorial campaign, but it will give you an idea about who Carney is and how he presents himself:

Republican Recruiting Efforts Leading Towards A GOP Civil War?

Limbaugh's fuming-- who will Jebby back?

The candidate got a zero from the National Right To Life Committee and a 100 from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Planned Parenthood rates him a respectable 73. The National Taxpayers Union rated him a D and the National Association of Manufacturers rated him a 45%. The far right, anti-labor BIPAC rated him at 50% and the Chamber of Commerce gave him a 75%. He rates high with environmental groups-- in the 90s. The NRA rates him an F (up from an F- in 2007). The AFL-CIO rated him at 58%, the UAW 64% and SEIU gave him 63%. Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) rated him 50%. The ACLU rates him at 55%, the NAACP gives him a 73% and gay rights group HRC gives him a 65%. The Christian Coalition gave him a 20% and the Conservative Union a dismal 28%. The John Birch Society has him at 30%, Club for Growth at 40%, the Eagle Forum at 29%, the Family Research Council at 23% (up from 18% in 2007), and both the Traditional Values Coalition and GOPUSA at zero. The National Organization of Woman (NOW) rates him at 75% and the far-right US Women's Chamber of Commerce gives him a zero. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (anti-war) gave him an A and the Vietnam Veterans of America (pro-war) gave him a 12%.

Does the above profile sound like a high-profile Republican Senate recruitment? Not if you've been listening to Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. But it's recent ratings for longtime Delaware Republican Michael Castle and the NRSC and GOP senators are begging him to jump into the race in the very Democratic state. (McCain only scraped up 37% last year, while Castle was re-elected with 61%. Put another way, McCain drew 152,374 while Castle drew 235,437, just 20,000 less than Obama).

Today Josh Kraushaar and Manu Raju at Politico report that Castle is seriously mulling over the race. "I talk to senators, they call me, I talk to them. There's no real pressure," Castle said, mentioning that he’s recently talked about the race with Sen. John McCain. Cornyn, Hatch, McCain may be playing it cool and giving Castle lots of space but they're absolutely desperate.

He said the pressure he feels "more than anything else" is coming to a decision since many Delaware Republicans are waiting for him to make his next move. Castle is viewed by national GOP strategists as the only Republican who is able to pick up the seat once held by Vice President Joseph Biden.

If he does run, it is likely to be against Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of the VP and the state's longtime senator. Right now he's on military duty in Iraq as a captain in the National Guard. Polling for Castle is great but he knows it doesn't guarantee anything. The GOP knows if Castle doesn't run, it guarantees that the seat will not be in play.

The Cheney-Limbaugh teabagger wing of the party is up in arms because the NRSC is leaning towards endorsing mainstream conservative Jim Gerlach over Club For Growth Know Nothing Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, begging corporate hack Carly Fiorina to challenge drooling true believer Chuck DeVore for the GOP nod in California, and has already endorsed Charlie Crist over the darling of far right extremist loons, Marco Rubio, in Florida. Yesterday we saw how Rep. Kevin McCarthy is trying to recruit mainstream candidates for House races, often at the expense of far right extremists. Expect an explosion out of Limbaugh soon as he seeks to reassert his authority over his fractious party.


UPDATE: Urgent Message From The Lunatic Fringe

Erick Erickson, a Georgia Republican extremist who hosts a fanatic website, Red State, started the Facebook group, "Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)," which I promptly joined. He sent all us members a note today:

Erick Erickson sent a message to the members of Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

--------------------
Subject: They are listening

I've been getting all sorts of emails begging me to shut this group down.

Instead, please consider inviting ten friends each.

The NRSC will not listen to us unless we help shut down their fundraising.  You can help.

Thanks,
Erick

Don't forget-- not one penny.