Beware the RINO

There's quite a kerfuffle brewing in the conservative blogosphere over the Senate GOP primary in Delaware.  The two main candidates are Mike Castle, a sitting congressman who has voted time and again with Obama and the Democrats, and Christine O'Donnell, a conservative Tea Party-backed candidate.  The GOP establishment is backing Castle and insists O'Donnell can't win the general election.  Conservatives are backing O'Donnell because a RINO in the office is almost as bad as a Democrat.

Dan Riehl provides some background:

In this, of all years, I don't buy that a Castle can win in Delaware, but not an O'Donnell. Still, I'd rather see the GOP lose and have an identified Democrat, rather than one in Red skin.

Suddenly conservatives want to help a Republican beloved by the SEIU? Where is the principle in that? He frequently votes against his party, always to the Left. He votes against his party toward the Left more often than Kirk, Djou and most other Republicans from Blue states, including New Jersey and New York.

Mike Castle has been funded by labor organizations for a good reason. He champions their causes better than 50% of the time. One of the Labor Unions he has the closest ties to is the SEIU.

We run Obama down for not supporting the surge. Where was Castle? Right there with Obama of course.

He was there for S-CHIP. Have you forgotten that fight? His votes against the party are not insignificant. They include the Disclose Act, Wall Street Reform, he likes to spend money on everything and supports Cap and Tax.

He carries an "F" rating from the NRA. People are saying, well, this O'Donnell, she's far from ideal. But Castle's record is? Hell, I'd take a blank slate over this guy, frankly. We know he is going to undermine us on critical issues time and again and become a poster boy as the "reasonable Republican" we all loath when the Left throws it in our faces.

The argument from the GOP establishment is they'd rather have a RINO in office who will caucus with the GOP and possibly help gain the majority rather than risk electing a Democrat. I'm not convinced that in this GOP wave year someone like Christine O'Donnell can't win. This year I think every Republican has a pretty good chance, and if we have the opportunity to elect someone who will actually vote with us, why shouldn't we?

And for those who are guaranteeing us that Mike Castle will caucus with Republicans and help them gain a majority, let me remind you of two names:

• Arlen Specter
• Jim Jeffords

Specter was promoted by the GOP establishment and President Bush in the 2004 election cycle and we were promised he'd remain a loyal Republican.  When his electoral chances in 2010 started to fade he ran as fast as he could back to the Democrat party from when he'd come decades earlier.

And for those with short memories, I'll take you back to 2001, shortly after President Bush took office and the Republicans held the Senate with the narrowest 1 vote majority.  Senator Jim Jeffords, a RINO from Vermont, got angry with Bush's tax cuts and after getting a sweet deal from the Democrats left the Republican party to become an independent and started caucusing with the Democrats.  His defection handed control of the Senate to the Democrats.

The thing that worries me about nominating someone like Castle is he'll be a primary Democrat target for similar shenanigans.  If he perceives the new GOP Senate as being "too conservative" for his liking he might be open to a deal that could switch control back to the Dems.  There simply aren't any guarantees when it comes to RINOs.