Sure Mike Castle Drools And Christine O’Donnell Rules, But Can She Win?

My philosophy is that conservatives should generally support the most conservative candidate who can be elected in a particular state. So, if you have a RINO who has a 95% chance of winning in a primary with a conservative who has a 50% chance of winning, I’ll take the conservative candidate every time. Sure, you may lose, but if you win, at least you’ve got someone worth having in office. On the other hand, a RINO still beats a Democrat. So, if those are the options, I don’t have any qualms about saying that I’d prefer a squish to a diehard socialist.

That brings us to the Mike Castle vs. Christine O’Donnell primary in Delaware.

Make no mistake about it: Mike Castle is a left-of-center moderate whom conservatives will learn to richly and deservedly despise if he gets elected. That being said, the Democrat in the race, Chris Coons, is a diehard socialist who, like many of the Democrats in Congress today, would have fit right in as part of the old Soviet Politburo. So, if the choice is between an Olympia Snowe clone and Trotsky, I’d have go with the squish.

So, what about Christine O’Donnell? She’s a charming, real-deal conservative who would make a FANTASTIC addition to the Senate. Without question, O’Donnell is a better candidate than Castle in every way except for one thing: She probably can’t beat Coons.

Take a look at these numbers from a Rasmussen poll done earlier this month:

1 How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as President… do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he’s been doing?

40% Strongly approve
15% Somewhat approve

6% Somewhat disapprove
38% Strongly disapprove
0% Not sure

August 5, 2010

Mike Castle: 49%
Chris Coons: 37%

August 5, 2010
Christine O’Donnell: 36%
Chris Coons: 46%

Delaware isn’t Alaska or even Nevada. It’s a state that’s so liberal Barack Obama has a 55% job approval rating. Moreover, there is a 22 point spread between Castle and O’Donnell. Castle leads Coons by 12 points while O’Donnell is behind by 10.

When you look at the latest fund raising numbers, the numbers get even more stark:

Michael N. Castle cash on hand: $2,647,545
Chris Coons cash on hand: $953,533
Christine O’Donnell: cash on hand: $69,931

I like Christine O’Donnell and I’d very much like to see her in the Senate, but what I’m seeing is a conservative candidate in a very liberal state, who’s way behind the Democrat two months before the election, and has no money in a year where the national party is probably going to be too cash poor to make up the difference. That’s unfortunate, especially since Mike Castle is sure to be a disappointment, but unless something changes and O’Donnell starts to look more viable in the general election, I’d be very hesitant to get on board with the Tea Party Express’ endorsement of O’Donnell.

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