Christine O’Donnell Tells Conservatives To Charge Ahead
After her surprise victory over Rep. Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary, sudden national figure and social conservative heroine Christine
Jul 31, 202048.3K Shares681.4K Views
After her surprise victory over Rep. Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary, sudden national figure and social conservative heroine Christine O’Donnell gave her speech to the Washington media and a crowd of social conservative activists Friday afternoon here at the Values Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
O’Donnell was added after her victory and spoke for about 20 minutes.
“The stimulus spent a trillion dollars on a Keynesian fantasy,” she said. “Then they started talking about Obamacare and the bailouts, bailing out one industry after another,” the social conservative activist said.
“The conservative movement was told to curl up in a fetal position for eight years … well how things have changed,” she said. Her rhetoric was often against the “elite”: “The elite don’t get us — they call us wacky, they call us wingnuts, but we call us ‘we the people’!” She continued later, “the ruling elites may try to be our master … but we say, ‘You’re not the boss of me!’”
She had some one-liners that the crowd loved: “They [government] will buy your teenage daughter an abortion, but not a sugary soda in a school’s vending machine.” Or, she mentioned the “green police” in Alexandria, Va., putting “cameras in your recycling bins.”
She compared her movement to the “chosen people of Israel” and added, “it is almost like we’re in constitutional repentance.” She also opposed extending unemployment benefits, mocking the current Congress: “They say the best way to job is to endlessly extend unemployment benefits!”
The number of reporters in the press area approximately doubled before she spoke at about 3:20 p.m. After her speech, international and national anchors from FOX and ABC like Greta Van Susteren and Jake Tapper (and dozens of other reporters) waited for a chance to talk to her outside the ballroom, but she never appeared. The master of ceremonies asked for a prayer for Christine O’Donnell to protect her from “whatever you see” in the media, who will “attack” her. Or, as she said in her speech, “will they attack us … smear our records … is it worth it? Yes!”
The instant celebrity and conservatism of O’Donnell beg comparisons to the woman who robocalled for her, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (Indeed, it was rumored that Palin might be the surprise guest of the afternoon — however, she was in Iowa.)
But does it translate to votes? The polls say no, with her trailing New Castle County Executive Chris Coons by 11 to 16 points.That didn’t matter to most of the speakers. Tea party organizer Amy Kremer said, “She’s not a good ol’ boy — she can beat Chris Coons.” Rick Santorum, when asked by a reporter whether she could win, said, “Of course she can. Have you seen the polls?”
But polls didn’t matter today. The results of the election are six weeks away. It was all celebrity and enthusiasm. In the words of O’Donnell, “We will be resisted and we must resist!”
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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