Yesterday, a transparent crack in the Republican Party surfaces, that resembles the crack in the Liberty Bell, which resides in Philadelphia. My intuition has told me that during the course of the midterm campaigns, some such rift, some such fissure, would occur between the right-leaning Tea Party and the traditional, moderate wing of the Republican Party.
The crack surfaces in two places. The first fissure appears with Sarah Palin’s visit to California that must look like a gift from heaven for Democrats. And the second rimation materializes with a few comments made by Christine O’Donnell that noticeably widened the crack in the Liberty Bell, which in my essay is a metaphor for an all inclusive Republican circus tent.
Democrats were in jubilation when Sarah Palin went to Orange County on Saturday. Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown’s numbers spiked up, since Sarah’s visit was couched in two-edged awkwardness. Both of the Republican big guns, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, were no shows to the get out the base rally. Both cited scheduling conflicts; did they have to do the dishes and take out the trash at their mansions? Couldn’t they just order their maids to take care of these demeaning chores?
California and Sarah Palin have nothing in common. It’s like a vegan vegetarian and a Cro-Magnon carnivore meeting for a Sunday picnic. Its oil and water, yin and yang, Chinese-checkers and chess. Only a few teabagger-outliers met her in person, but most were chuckling in disbelief from their TV viewing room, as she muttered conservative platitudes with some Ronny Reagan hamburger helper mixed in to give it flavor.
I watched the entire speech, and Sarah faked her way through it without even mentioning Meg or Carly one single time. Both are in bad need of securing the independent vote and both are fearful that Palin will alienate this crucial block of voters. After Sarah’s visit Saturday, they can kiss these votes goodbye. And now Palin has endorsed Fiorina for the California Senate seat. Carly will be lucky to score an outsourced-job in India now, trouble-shooting Hewlett Packard clunkers that are destined for the computer junkyard.
Fiorina was asked if she thought Palin was qualified to be president, and what Carly said reeks of sarcasm and doubt; an endorsement in her words is not recognizable. “Technically , she’s qualified to be president because you have to be a U.S. citizen and be in good standing.” Why not just say Sarah Barracuda just doesn’t have the Right Stuff to be our commander in chief?
With Christine O’Donnell the gap between her and traditional Republicans is a mile wide. Over the weekend Christine expressed her frustration with the national GOP, when interviewed on This Week. Why isn’t the NRSC contributing any money to her sinking campaign? Christine has earned enough money herself, it turns out. O’Donnell has raised $3.7 million since her successful Republican primary in September.
Sen. John Cornyn had promised that the NRSC would support her, but nothing is forthcoming. You might recall how Karl Rove reacted to O’Donnell’s victory in mid-September. No one better represents the traditional wing of the Republican Party than Karl Rove, and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with these Tea Party extremists. And on September 19th, the Delaware State Chairman of the Republican Party, Tom Ross, expressed his disdain for O’Donnell and her out-of-state backers, who were interfering with the political process in Delaware.
The crack in the Liberty Bell can first be noticed at this time, when Christine wins the Republican primary, and moves the older boy (Mike Castle) out of the way. Her real backer is Sean Hannity from Fox News, who’s a gold mind for fund raising. “I’ve got Sean Hannity in my back pocket, and I can go on his show and raise money by attacking you guys.” Let’s not forget either, that Tea Party leader Jim Demint is still fully in her camp.
Christine’s closing statement at the Wilmington, Delaware senate debates last Wednesday was shocking; in terms of how open she is about the row within the Rep. Party. “If you want a senator who has had to fight her own party and is still fighting her own party, please vote O’Donnell for U.S. Senate.”
Recently, John Cornyn has emphasized that the upcoming mid-term elections are a referendum on the Obama Administration. But maybe it’s becoming, if Democratic strategists play their cards right, a referendum on what direction the Republican Party is drifting towards. Meghan McCain underscores this rift when she said that young Republicans see Christine “as a nut job.” I see an expanding crack in our ancient Liberty Bell, that will likely snap in two before November 2nd. Correct me, if I’m wrong.