memeorandum: Can We Calm Down About Delaware's Tea Party Already? (Charles P. Pierce/Esquire)

7:35 PM ET, September 15, 2010

Top Items:

Coons up big — Republicans more than likely cost themselves a Senate seat last night. Chris Coons begins the general election in Delaware with a 50-34 lead over Christine O'Donnell. Mike Castle would have led Coons by a 45-35 margin. — While O'Donnell may have ingratiated herself …

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:

GOP's Delaware Senate Nominee Christine O'Donnell Not a Big Fan of Evolution — Christine O'Donnell won't have to lie about this Senate race. She won the Republican nomination for the Senate in Delaware fair and square, against a much more experienced, much more moderate, much more respected opponent …

Discussion: Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, Don Surber, alicublog, Indecision Forever, Firedoglake, National Review and The Political Carnival

Jillian Rayfield / TPMDC:

Christine O'Donnell's 1996 Anti-Masturbation Campaign On MTV's ‘Sex In The 90s’ (VIDEO) — Christine O'Donnell won the Republican nomination for senator in Delaware tonight, and Rachel Maddow wasted no time showing the footage she obtained of O'Donnell's 1996 appearance on MTV's “Sex In The 90s” TV show.

J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:

Reid: Coons, ‘my pet,’ will win — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday predicted to The Hill that Democratic senatorial candidate Chris Coons will safely win the Nov. 2 general election against GOP nominee Christine O'Donnell. — Reid talked up the New Castle County …

Discussion: CNN, Weekly Standard, Michelle Malkin, Reuters and Hot Air

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Romney backs O'Donnell — Support for Christine O'Donnell appears to have emerged this morning as a kind of grassroots litmus test, and the Establishment is scrambling to pass it. — Mitt Romney just endorsed her, saying, “Now is the time for Republicans to rally behind their nominee, Christine O'Donnell.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:

Castle will not back O'Donnell — A Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) campaign source confirmed to The Hill late Tuesday that the longtime congressman will not be endorsing Christine O'Donnell. — The Tea Party-backed O'Donnell defeated Castle for Delaware's Republican Senate nomination.

George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:

Christine O'Donnell on Rove's ‘Un-factual’ Remarks and ‘Republican Cannibalism’ — The Republican nominee for the Delaware Senate seat fired back at Karl Rove today for what she called “un-factual” accusations about her record. — “Everything that he is saying is un-factual.

Discussion: Gawker, The Note, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, TPMDC, USA Today, Pajamas Media, Think Progress, Power Line, American Power and Gateway Pundit

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Rachel Maddow Sexualizes Christine O'Donnell — Christine O'Donnell won the Delaware primary last night, and within minutes (literally) über liberal Rachel Maddow started running video and commentary on MSNBC about O'Donnell's views on masturbation. — The pretext for sexualizing O'Donnell …

Discussion: TPMDC, Rumproast and Talking Points Memo

CNN:

TRENDING: Palin says Karl Rove should ‘buck up’ — (CNN) - Sarah Palin has a message for former top Bush aide Karl Rove: “Buck up.” — Palin sent her message to Rove Wednesday on Fox News, after he expressed the doubt that Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell does not …

Discussion: The Politico

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Can We Calm Down About Delaware's Tea Party Already? — There is a real danger in overthinking what happened in Delaware on Tuesday night, which is not something of which the winner of the state's GOP senatorial primary ever has been accused. In case you missed it, and Chris Matthews ascending …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Balloon Juice and AMERICAblog News

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:

Christine O'Donnell: AIDS Gets Too Much Gov't Money, Condoms Wouldn't Stop It (VIDEO) — Long before Tea Party backed candidate Christine O'Donnell won the Republican primary in Delaware and became the GOP Senate nominee, the conservative firebrand was arguing that the government was spending …

Discussion: TPMDC, Little Green Footballs, Think Progress, Harry's Place, Feministe, Raw Story, Shakesville, The Huffington Post, Indecision Forever and Focal Point

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Cornyn embraces O'Donnell — In a clear sign of the grassroots pressure on Republican leaders, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn just put out a statement embracing Christine O'Donnell — a dramatic contrast with his group's curt response last night — and writing her a big check.

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Beast, CNN, The Politico, Wonk Room, The Jawa Report, Hot Air, Riehl World View, Ruby Slippers, The Greenroom, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, TPMDC, Little Green Footballs and The Right Scoop

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Republicans Reap The Whirlwind

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, National Review, AmSpecBlog, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Weigel and Instapundit

Scott Keyes / Think Progress:
O'Donnell So Fervently Pro-Truth That She Wouldn't Lie To Nazis Asking …

Discussion: Washington Post, Democracy in America, No More Mister Nice Blog and New York Magazine

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Soul-searching time: a GOP torn

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, Hot Air, Political Byline, The Page, The Caucus, Grist, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, New York Magazine, Pajamas Media and Ben Smith's Blog

Bradford Plumer / The New Republic:
Does Christine O'Donnell Think Dinosaur Bones Are Fake?

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMDC and Little Green Footballs

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
DeMint on GOP: 'I don't want the majority back if we don't believe anything'

Discussion: The Note, The Politico and The Confluence

Fox News:
Karl Rove Questions Christine O'Donnell's ‘Serious Character Problems’ |

Discussion: Think Progress, The Daily Dish, FoxNews.com, The Atlantic Online and Washington Post

Matt Finkelstein / Political Correction RSS:
O'Donnell: Barack Obama Is “Anti-American”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, The Hill, The New Republic, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC and The Atlantic Online

RushLimbaugh.com:
The Limbaugh Rule: Vote for Most Conservative Candidate in Primary

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Left Coast Rebel and Power Line

Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
So What Did Christine O'Donnell Run On?

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Weigel and Ballot Box

Ewen MacAskill / Guardian: Does she still believe masturbation is a sin?

Bridget Johnson / The Hill:
Rove: O'Donnell 'believes she's going to win,' but must answer ‘troubling questions’

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and TPMDC

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Karl Rove: Christine O'Donnell ‘nutty’

Discussion: New York Magazine, Truthdig and NewsBusters.org

Blk-In-Alabam / Media Matters for America:
Right-wing media turn on Rove for “trashing” O'Donnell

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPMDC and Media Matters for America

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Exclusive: President Obama to This Week Name Elizabeth Warren to Special Advisory Role to White House/Treasury Dept to Form New Consumer Agency — President Obama will announce this week that Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor who first proposed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Talking Points Memo, Ezra Klein, The Washington Independent, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Taegan Goddard's …, The Political Carnival and The Page

Steve Holland / Reuters:

Tea Party Republican has big lead in Florida — (Reuters) - Republican candidate Marco Rubio has opened a clear lead in a Florida Senate race, becoming the latest Tea Party favorite to benefit from voter anger at Washington, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Wednesday.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Daily Kos, TPMDC, Outside the Beltway, GOP 12 and The Buzz

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Why Mike Castle Lost — Mike Castle might have been a wonderful general election candidate in the Delaware Senate race. But he ran a terrible campaign in the Republican primary, which is why he lost to Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favorite. — Castle, Delaware's lone congressman, came up short in four separate ways.

Discussion: The Page, The New Republic, Ben Smith's Blog and RedState

First Read / msnbc.com:
First thoughts: The purge inside the GOP

Discussion: GOP 12 and Outside the Beltway

The Hill:
Pelosi: Tea Party primary victories ‘very positive’ for Democrats

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico and Liberty Pundits Blog

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Senate Republicans unveil a plan to make Bush tax cuts permanent — Even as they hammer Democrats for running up record budget deficits, Senate Republicans are rolling out a plan to permanently extend an array of expiring tax breaks that would deprive the Treasury of more than $4 trillion …

Discussion: Democracy Corps, TPMDC, Matthew Yglesias, Hot Air, The Washington Independent, Democracy in America, Ezra Klein, The Plum Line, White House.gov Blog Feed, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Hill, Think Progress and The Politico

Ezra Klein:
Putting the $3.9 trillion extension of the Bush tax cuts in context

Discussion: TPMDC, The New Republic, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Washington Monthly, BAGnewsNotes and A plain blog about politics

Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:

Democratic Party Steals Logo From the Pizza Place Where I Used to Work — The Democratic Party unveiled a new logo this morning, and, seeing the new insignia for the first time today on the party's revamped website, I thought it looked familiar. — Not without reason.

Discussion: Democratic National Committee, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Weekly Standard, RedState, CNN and Pajamas Media

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
An Epic End to the Primaries: What It Means

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com, more at Mediagazer »

James Hohmann / The Politico:
Democratic National Committee gets new logo, slogan

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Ben Smith's Blog and Outside the Beltway

John Distaso / UnionLeader.com:

Ayotte defeats Lamontagne in U.S. Senate primary — CONCORD - 1:18 p.m. The Secretary of State's office has just announced that Kelly Ayotte has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 53,044 votes. Ovide Lamontagne received 51,377 votes. More to follow. — __

Discussion: Weekly Standard

John Distaso / UnionLeader.com:
Ayotte defeats Lamontagne in U.S. Senate primary

Discussion: The Fix, Hotline On Call, RedState and Conservatives4Palin.com

Mark D. Fefer / Seattle Weekly:

On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears From View — Her work won't be in Seattle Weekly anymore, or anywhere else. — You may have noticed that Molly Norris' comic is not in the paper this week. That's because there is no more Molly. — The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Mediaite

Washington Post:

How Adrian Fenty lost his reelection bid for D.C. mayor — One afternoon in late June, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's political advisers invited their boss to a downtown conference room to report an unsettling development: Focus groups commissioned by the campaign were saying that Fenty's leadership style …

Discussion: Dana Goldstein, PostPartisan, Matthew Yglesias, The Daily Beast, Ezra Klein, Salon, DCist, Achenblog and The New Republic

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The War On The Right - And Obama — My thesis that the core rationale for the Obama presidency was a post-boomer pragmatism has been assailed lately as unrealistic, and responsible for Obama's apparent woes. I can see how Maureen's critique does indeed make some psychological sense …