Get Off Her Back

After a rough and tumble primary contest Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell emerged victorious over a Republican member of Congress whose voting record had to have endeared him to Nancy Pelosi. His voting record marked him as the ultimate RINO (Republican in name only).

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He was also the darling of the Republican establishment which does not take kindly to having their pronouncements from on high ignored. And they had pronounced Christine O’Donnell unacceptable. No matter how far out her opponent was in left field, he was their man. Despite their support, mirabile dictu, their man lost. And to make matters worse, he lost to a woman who does not fit into what appears to be their image of an ideal Republican. The woman actually thinks for herself and the establishment can’t tolerate such independence from a member of the party they regard as solely and completely their property. Enter Karl Rove, the acknowledged architect of George W. Bush’s successful campaigns for the presidency. Mr. Rove, for whom I continue to have the greatest admiration, suddenly appears to have slipped his moorings when it comes to Christine O’Donnell’s primary victory. She had no sooner won a decisive victory over her opponent when out came Mr. Rove’s cudgels in the shape of an expose of Christine O’Donnell’s past, which includes a few unsavory problems, financial and otherwise, that poor Al Gore would call inconvenient facts. In what was no less than a full fledged assault on the lady, Mr. Rove gave her Democratic opponent multiple weapons he may now use against her without having to spend a lot of time and money doing what is politely called “opposition research” – a nice way of saying preparing to do a hatchet job on one’s opponent. Gee thanks, Karl. That was big of you, lending a helping hand to her Democratic opponent – but don’t expect any signs of gratitude from the Democratic candidate – they’re not very big on saying “thank you” to Republicans. But then you know that better than most people. If anybody doubts the existence of the Republican “Establishment” Mr. Rove’s frontal assault on Christine O’Donnell showed conclusively that it’s alive and well, and he is apparently a charter member. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against what is called an “establishment.” It’s just a nice way of describing a political machine, and being a product of what was once one of the GOP’s best, I am, a firm adherent of the beast – without a well-oiled machine in politics you have anarchy. But I’m old fashioned enough to want to call a spade a spade, and a political establishment what it is: a machine. The hatchet job on Christine O’Donnell is well underway. One target is her firm adherence to the doctrines of her Church and the left and their media allies are zeroing in on her long-ago pronouncement that masturbation is sinful. Since nothing is regarded as sinful in this enlightened era – except perhaps being a conservative Republican – the left in and out of the media, recoiled in horror over her stated belief that what the Catholic Church calls” self-abuse” is morally wrong What is she, some kind of religious fanatic? they sneer. Well I don’t know if she is a Catholic – her glorious Irish name suggests she is, and if she isn’t she should be, but assuming she is, she is required to follow the teachings of the Church which include labeling self-abuse as “an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.” In other words, it’s a sin. In that context she is certainly entitled to be admired for her firm adherence to her faith and not lambasted for it. It’s a rare characteristic these heathen days. Some of my fellow Republicans will disagree, but in my not-so-humble opinion, she is a breath of fresh air in a musty, stodgy hide-bound old party. And that’s the kind of Republican we need in the United States Senate. Go Chris, go.