Christine O’Donnell had a tough couple of hours in her Delaware Senate candidates’ debate, but perhaps not as tough as the past months have been for the firebrand politico as she admits to still having to fight her own party.
The 90-minute, televised debate against Democratic candidate Chris Coons was a testing time for O’Donnell, but what struck most people was an offhand comment made by the Tea Party favorite about her struggle to gain the nomination, and respect of her party.
“I've had to fight my party to be here on this stage to win the nomination, and to some extent I am still fighting my party,” O’Donnell commented during the debate.
The fight for her to win the nomination was well-publicized, after she unseated Republican favorite Mike Castle from the running, but what did she mean, “still fighting”?
While her press aide Dave Yonkman was quick to smooth over and dismiss the comment, O’Donnell herself later gave a full account of what she meant to a Fox News reporter:
“The Republican Party on the state level, or on the national level, neither have come in to help me close the gap in the polls. And my opponent, there’s so much to attack him on, yet the NRSC refuses to play, and that, that baffles me. Because he’s a – he’s a sitting duck. There’s a lot to go after him [on].”
The polls currently show Coons with a large lead over O’Donnell, but the ever-optimistic candidate says she expected as much, and that “over these next three weeks, I believe you’ll see an increase in the polls.”
