Today, the Friday before the Delaware primary, at 8:30 in the evening, Sen. Jim DeMint finally endorsed Christine O’Donnell. DeMint said that O’Donnell “will stand strong for the principles of freedom.”
I like DeMint. But if “principles of freedom” are at stake, I wonder why DeMint didn’t endorse O’Donnell earlier. Her campaign has been attempting to win his endorsement for weeks, if not months.
DeMint admitted that he has been watching the race for some time, and jumped in now because the polls showed it tightening. One might have expected him to try to lead, rather than follow public opinion. In any case, if DeMint wants to follow polls, he might be better advised to watch the ones that show O’Donnell lagging well behind the Democrat in the general election.
The endorsements of first Sarah Palin and now DeMint help O’Donnell in two ways. First, they may mean better turnout from staunchly conservative voters. Second, they may give enhanced credibility among Repubicans who fall somewhere in between O’Donnell and Castle on the ideological spectrum.
Some of these voters may be considering O’Donnell, but know her only as two-time political loser who has trouble with her finances and with telling the truth about her most recent electoral defeat. Maybe the two recent endorsements will cause center-right Republicans to see her in a better light.
Unfortunately, they won’t do much to help her win over the center and center-left voters who dominate the Delaware electorate in general elections.
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“Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.” Winston Churchill
“Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” Inscription on the Liberty Bell
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