Castle was a nine-term U.S. representative and former governor of the state, and his victory was considered a lock. He was the party choice.
O'Donnell's win was completely unpredicted, a true upset, and was the latest in a series of primary upsets that have left the Republican establishment dazed and confused—and cautious.
O'Donnell received no funding from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) during her campaign. After her primary victory, the Wall Street Journal reported an NRSC official as saying the committee did not plan to contribute money to O'Donnell's campaign. The NRSC reversed its decision a day later.
O'Donnell did receive funding from a group called the Tea Party Express. She has echoed the group's populist theme that the government is out of touch with the people.
Seasoned Republican politicos are divided, with some seeing the "Tea Party" movement as a return to conservative values and a righting of the ship; others see it as a disruption to regaining congressional power in November via midterm election victories.
“I'm for the Republican, but I got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We are now looking at seven to eight in my opinion. This is not a race we're going to be able to win,” former Bush adviser Karl Rove stated on Fox News.
Democrats see the success of tea party candidates as a threat to their progress, and are using the group to rally their party base. A petition on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) website says that “Tea Partyers are the most extreme candidates the GOP has to offer.”
“We can't afford to let these Tea Party extremists invade the Senate. Sign up now, and help the DSCC fight back!” the message concludes.
Continued on the next page…
