Christine O’Donnell In Person
Apr 2nd, 2010 by Timothy Pancoast
Update: Christine O’Donnell did not make her scheduled appearance at the 9-12 Delaware Patriots Meeting in Sussex. A member of her campaign staff spoke in her stead and mentioned that she went down to Georgia to be with her sister who is going through a life threatening pregnancy. She is likely to also miss the Monday appearance in New Castle, but is expected to be at the Wednesday appearance in Kent County.
My take: I must say that I was dissapointed when she did not show up. I respect her commitment to family and life. I think she could serve ably in the Senate, however if her family is experiencing ongoing troubles and it impacts her than I hope she will re-evaluate what she can commit to at this time. Her family needs her support, but once she commits to the people of Delaware, we will need her support as well. This is a true test of integrity for her. She should be a good family member reguardless, but only she can look inside to know if she can honestly be a good Senator at the same time. In spite of that we the people are the ones who will be voting on the answer to that question. If her answer is yes, that she can be true to both her family and the State of Delaware, than she is going to have to find a way to show (not tell) us that she can do both.
These may be hard words, especially given what Christine O’Donnell and her family are experiencing in her sister’s hour of need, but they are the reality of what she faces. America is also in her hour of need. If she can meet the challenge of both than she is just the kind of person we need in the Senate right now. If not than she is still exactly who her family needs. I may be asking a lot, but we need champions right now, and champions always have a lot required of them. The champion that fullfills their role in the Senate will find that they have a lot of other champions in Delaware supporting them. End of update
I am posting this here rather than on the announcements page because of all the intense interest in Christine O’Donnell, and her campaign.
Christine O’Donnell plans to speak and take questions at 9-12 Delaware Patriot meetings in all three counties during the next several days. Though she has been the topic of much controversy, especially concerning her personal and campaign finances, I will wait till I have heard from her in person before I say much more about the situation. For those interested in getting answers straight from the source it promises to be a good opportunity.
She will be given the 8 o’clock hour at each of the meetings which are scheduled as follows:
-Thursday April 1 – Sussex County at the Millsboro Fire Hall from 7-9
-Monday April 5 – New Castle County at the Embassy Suites from 7-9
-Wednesday April 7 – Kent County at the Bower’s Beach Fire Hall from 7-9
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Apparently not so “in person”. I just heard Russ Murphy say on WGMD that Queen Christine won’t be there, she’s sending a lacky in to answer questions for her.
She has spoken at the events before. If she is not any event there is a conflict that arose. When you have something every night, that happens. I am surpised that she scheduled an event tonight anyway because of Holy Week observances.
I guess we’ll have to wait to hear her answer questions about her failure to show fiscal restraint and fiscal responsibility in her personal and professional life.
And where was she last night, David, and the night before?
If you go to her website you can only donate to her or sign up for her e-mail alerts. Her e-mail alerts, to date, have consisted of bashing Castle and asking for money. No information about appearances or scheduling.
My dear friend, I can direct you to her staff. I am not her scheduler nor her PR flack.
David my point is that she’s running a campaign for Senate and as of today she’s not accessible to the people. If you go to her site there is no option to contact her. She doesn’t have a calendar of events, she doesn’t send out notices of appearances…
All I can do is point out the red flags, and there are plenty of them.
Not many campaigns put up a schedule . I usually get a response within hours. Three years and counting. I think you have a great point about the contact information. I will pass it on. You’re very astute.
I was once ready to endorse and support Christine but her failed appearances are more common than her actually showing up. I just think that Christine needs a vacation to get Christine’s life in order but of course, “now” is not the time to take one.
If you’re going to stiff an organization like the 9k-12 Patriots, it shows a lack being able to keep a schedule. What will she do when she reaches the Senate where the demands are much greater
I have changed my position with Christine, to a wait and see.
Memory fails me on the details, but didn’t she pull some of these no shows last year ?
I’m no psychologist , but last night on the “Pentagon Channel” they showed one of those old black and white instructional videos about spotting a Sociopath in your ranks.
Some of the tell tale signs of sociopathic behavior were a pattern of missing commitments, not paying bills, and a general sense of entitlement . The sociopath seems to always have an excuse for everything, not always fabricated, but usually exaggerated.
The sociopath seems quite charming, but it is an act.
Being a US Senator is a huge commitment. That’s why so many good people choose not to run, because they know for the next 6 years + they will miss family anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, funerals, etc…
I don’t want to sound cold, but the bottom line is that her commitment needs to be to the people of DELAWARE if she wants to be our US Senator, especially in these dire times. Her job in the US Senate can never be the #2 or #3 thing on her To Do List.
I have never been convinced that O’Donnell is committed to the people in Delaware. Maybe that’s because she’s no where to be found when it’s not campaign season. Maybe it’s because it’s always been so easy for her to walk away from commitments in Delaware for personal commitments elsewhere. Missing important appearances for friends and family isn’t new for O’Donnell. She did this in 2008, too.
Man oh man. A No clue, no money, no show. Just a pretty face and a script written by Glenn Beck.
So much for Castle being forced to the right.
Really? You guys are this cold when her sister is in a life-threatening situation? These are pro-life, family values? It’s not like she said she’ll be out of town for a month. She’s rushing to her sister’s bedside.
I suppose that it could be a lie, but even if it is, you seem so willing to accept her other excuses.
Nice slam Liberal/Geek but this is a long track record and we want more from a Senator, should she be elected, than an excuse. I don’t think anyone’s comments have been out of line here except yours.
Did Mike Castle drop out because he had a stroke and was off the trail for a month? Did Biden resign because of the aneurysm that laid him up for months not to mention when he lost his wife an child? Did you say President Obama shouldn’t have left the campaign in late October to be with his dying grandmother? You are telling me that she can’t take a week to be with her sister? If 5 days out of 8 months makes or breaks the campaign then so be it (it won’t), my perspective is that I wouldn’t respect a person NOT balanced enough to take the few days.
How can we say we support family values and not value the family? I think you three need to take a breath. Jason about 20 of them.
She didn’t no show, she called out because of an emergency. That is completely different ask your employer.
LG posted his comment while I was typing. I agree completely. He was not out of line nor was it a slam. I would be leary of a person who didn’t respond that way. Just finished texting her. So far so good. I let her know that my family is praying for hers.
Btw for Alice she responded in 3 minutes.
If you guys really do want her schedule, the campaign # is 302-468-7010. No crank calls please.
Her sister’s name is Elizabeth if you want to add her and her boy to your prayer lists.
Has anybody checked her alibi? There are integrity questions here. Does she have a sister?
David, you make a good point , and we all should respect your integrity, as well as your loyalty to Miss O,Donnell , but the “devil is in the details”, especially when a pattern seems to be evolving.
David makes a good point. If she has a legitimate excuse and nobody should fault her for going to the aid of her family. I will keep her and her family in my prayers.
I have been aware of this building issue for a while. It has been in my prayers, but I did not feel like I should share such personal details in public. I guess that now that she brought it up. Her sister is Elizabeth. She had a boy. Congratulate the family and keep them in prayer.
This is from my email box.” It’s been a very emotional and hectic week for my family and me (redacted personal detail)and my sister’s life-threatening pregnancy finally being cleared with the birth of her son,” She asked for prayer.
This is real life. It doesn’t stop because you are running for office. You all do have some legitimate areas to criticize her. That is okay. I just think this is not one of them and your energies are better focused elsewhere.
She still needs to announce a new organization (treasurer in particular) that gives donors confidence not merely that Castle is a RINO and a liberal. The good news is that her recent issues are in her control. That also means it is her responsibilty to deal with them. She assures me that it is in the works. I want to see it yesterday. I think your concerns are legitimate. I do not think this line of attack is. No one else would have to put up with it and I don’t think she should either. I would be defending Joe Biden or Patricia Blevins on this score let alone someone I call my friend.
I found her to be a stand up person when we worked on a project with a Rose and a Prayer. We became friends and remain so. On a personal level, I want her to succeed. On an ideological level, I want her to succeed. On a practical level, I am concerned that it is slipping away unless she deals with some issues that we have discussed for what seems like forever. Even if she does not, she will allow those of us who are not content with the Congressman to send him a message then rally behind him in the fall. If she gets it together better, we get a fine conservative senator. If she does not, we get a harmless outlet to send him a message. The more she beats him up as a RINO, the more Democrats will like him in the fall. It is a no lose situation.
“Did Mike Castle drop out because he had a stroke and was off the trail for a month?”
He had Ron Williams and the News Journal covering for him. O’donnicus Rex has no such hook up.
Glad to hear that her sister and nephew are doing well.
I also give you Exhibit A of knee-jerk conservatism, Raleigh. I am out of line for suggesting that there is no place for denigrating family obligations, but when David Anderson and I agree (a rare occurrence, indeed) David is given the old “David makes a good point…”
LG, I said it nicer than you did.
You said basically you are a bunch of hypocrites. I said, we need to remember our values. We can’t be for family values and not value family. And now you call the commenter ‘Exhibit A of knee-jerk conservatism”.
I wonder why we got a different reaction.
It is okay. I am glad to have you and Jason ” keeping us straight”. Welcome by any time.
If I make an error in judgment as we all do from time to time, I try to do the right thing. My mind was thinking of all the times that she failed to show without a good excuse.
God and family should come before everything else. I’m new to this site but if someones family is truly in pain (even a liberal progressive) I will stop and ask God to intervene for that person.
I’m in a wait and see mode about Christine and I’m probably waiting for her to give me a good excuse to support her.
I’ve heard her speak nationally and locally and feel that she could make an excellent senator if her life were a bit more together.
If everything is “clear” then why a question about Monday? Will every issue that flares up for O’Donnell result in a 4-5 day absence, because that’s how it worked in 2008.
Candidates for the US Senate should be punching the time card on 12-16 hour days 7 days a week. That was an issue between Brown and Coakley in Mass. Brown spent his time on the ground, with the people, not in another state.
There were 7,000 people in a state park in Sussex today for a festival, there are how many Easter Services on Saturday night and Sunday? Community Easter egg hunts? These are events that a “family values” candidate for the US Senate should be attending.
Castle is going to wipe the floor with her, because at this point, he deserves to.
I love the character — “anonymous” of course — who asks if Christine has a sister who is going through a difficult (and life-threatening) pregnancy. For enquiring mind, yes, she does have such a sister. There will be other 9/12 meetings, many of them, and I’m sure Christine will be at all of them if asked. Should she have chosen to be with her sister rather than go to a political event. I feel sorry for anyone whose answer is that she should not have gone to be with her sister. It’s not a question of political calculation; it’s a matter of basic human decency. As for Christine’s “fiscal responsibility” (not the right term, folks), somehow I think Mike Castle’s voting for the $700 billion in bailouts is a more appropriate fiscal concern than Christine’s owing a few more bucks than she’s wish — something she has in common with 270 million Americans (including the Obamas, by the way). Did Christine cut her grass to everyone’s satisfaction? Or did Mike Castle vote for cap-and-trade, which would raise your gas prices to six dollars a gallon and destroy what manufacturing still exists in the Delmarva area? Somehow the two don’t seem exactly . . . equivalent, do they? Mike Castle and his minions should be ashamed of themselves for their petty hit jobs on this fine young woman, but of course in their world shame is a scarce commodity. And that’s a true shame. Christine will go to DC to shake up a corrupt Congress, and that scares the bejesus out of career politicians and their enablers.
On David’s point on whether it’s appropriate to lable Mike Castle as a RINO. As some of you know, there’s a new site up called “Remove RINOs,” which has a special section devoted to Castle: http://www.removerinos.com/CastleM.html. I urge those concerned about “Castle/RINO” approach to look at it. It notes that Castle:
Voted FOR Cap and Trade.
Voted AGAINST the surge:
Voted AGAINST Earmark
Reform aimed to cut runaway
spending
Voted AGAINST reinstating
funds for missile defense.
Voted AGAINST speeding
up construction on the
border fence
In other words, if it snorts like a RINO and votes like one, then it’s a RINO.
Mike Castle and others who voted the way he did are responsible for the financial calamities that have befallen this country. He’s one of those who “run things” in Washington, DC, and they have run our nation into the ground. Now, he wants to go to the Senate to continue exactly what’s he’s done in the past. If we’re to have anything other than the shell of a country to hand our children and grandchildren, we will elect people like Christine O’Donnell. Otherwise, life in America will turn into an eternal regret.
Welcome back Stephen. It has been too long.
By the way, I didn’t complain about labeling him a RINO. As I said it is a no lose strategy for November. If she wins, that’s great. If he wins, it won’t hurt him in the fall. I am just saying that you all have to announce a treasurer soon who is seen as strong, competent, and independent. I don’t even mean have one. I mean announce one. Otherwise the focus will stay on our candidate and not the guy who has the record in Washington. I agree it is a matter of perspective. It seems like silly season to worry about some of these things when the country is heading off the abyss. The fact is that some of this does ressonate with people and has to be dealt with. You and I are not the audience.
You have a strong candidate with mad skills and a great story. No one knows it. She has great experience but almost no one knows it. She can relate to average voter better than most, but she isn’t making that connection. You have a regular citizen/small business woman who is sacrificing like crazy to make a real difference for this country, but she is viewed now as some career politician without a job siphoning money from campaigns. It is driving me up a wall. If you do not replace the narrative, it doesn’t matter how many activists come from out of state, she won’t go anywhere.
Mike Castle is a respected institution in Delaware. Everyone likes him even his opponents. People know that he is erratic in his voting patterns (they don’t know how erratic and NEED to know), but they remember that he helped bring the banking industry to Delaware. Mike Castle was part of the fight to balance the budget with Newt Gingrich. People remember. It is not an easy thing to say that guy you trusted all of your life is really not that great. It is like saying don’t trust your grandfather. Mike Castle is like everyone’s grandfather.That is hard to beat. Just trying to raise his negatives won’t work by itself. You need two other elements. I could tell you how I think it could be done, but Democrats read this too. If you want to know, email me at my personal email which I know you have.
Stephen he also voted against the 09 Stimulus package, against the Heathcare Bill, he vote for continuing the funding for Iraq without a withdraw date, he voted for the bill authorizing construction of the border fence, and voted to ban the desecration of the American Flag.
I could go on, but the bottom line is that he votes with his fellow Republicans over 80% of the time.
As for O’Donnell, we only have her word on how she will vote, and he word at this point is meaningless. Just ask her unpaid staffers from 2008, and the unpaid vendors that supplied her services.
It not easy admitting the gal you’ve placed your time and energy in isn’t a viable candidate. She IS just a career politician wannabe who won’t take a job and who’s living off of the kindness of her followers. You trust her because she says all of the things you want to hear, but her actions tell a different story.
In terms of the cancellation this week. I know of no one who begrudges any candidate going to a family member in what could have been a life threatening situation.
Those who appear critical of this cancellation have, like many of us, seen this type of thing before. This has less to do with insensitivity and more to do with “Here we go again”. CO has missed in the past many opportunities to greet the faithful and then never shows up.
Candidates can get overbooked easily. There are too many events and not enough time. Too many times in the past CO has been a no show without explanation. This tends to give the impression that she is unreliable. This impression is further reinforced with the stories (amply documented) of her financial missteps.
Christine O’Donnell has failed to attend GOP regional meetings unless she gets a speaking slot. This despite the fact that this is where she can get reliable volunteers. Christine would not have to pay anything to go to a Sussex County meeting and just greet and mingle with the attendees. (This is unlike events such as VicMead where she snuck in.) She hasn’t done this and therefore sends the message that she is not interested in getting the support of the party rank and file. MOST OF WHOM DON’T GO TO VICMEAD.
Unlike David, I think her problems require more than a new treasurer. For the record I think the treasurer from 2008, Sue Dixon, was as committed a person to CO as anyone could find. The fact that she got out of that campaign role says much about the chaos that appears to follow the O’Donnell campaign.
To date Christine has failed to address any of the issues raised by the News Journal. Sending out emails blaming everyone else and getting surrogates to call Castle a RINO is not an explanation of her past behavior nor does it demonstrate a commitment to change on her part. These types of behaviors demonstrate a lack of accepting personal responsibility for her mistakes and failings. While these attacks might satisfy those true believers already committed to Christine, they do not satisfy the general public.
As the situation stands today. Christine is unelectable in November. All the out of state endorsments, name calling, and emails will not change that.
With us 80% in what world? Try 50 to 60% by almost every measure including the composite from the National Journal. If he were with us 80%, he would still get some flack like McCain and Graham, but like Graham it would have no traction. Look at Bill Roth, he was not down the line, but he was with us most of the time. He was an icon in this state and is in the party. The only people who ever talked about primaring him were Castle allies. Pay backs are a pain.
Still in November if he is the candidate, I would rather have 55% than 10%. Can you blame me though for rather having 95%?
“If she is not any event there is a conflict that arose. When you have something every night, that happens…”
She had to make an appearence in Greenwood (to pay her boyfriend’s electric bill).
FYI. Christine is scheduled to be interviewed on an online Blog Talk Radio show called ‘NiteCap on Freedom Radio’ this Sunday night (4/18) at 8:00. Here’s the address: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedom
The call in number is (646) 478-5613