It鈥檚 still unknown whether Palin鈥檚 influence will be enough to catapult outsider Christine O鈥橠onnell to victory over Rep. Mike Castle in today鈥檚 Delaware鈥檚 Senate primary. But just the fact that the race is so close is due in part to her endorsement.
O鈥橠onnell is a hard-line conservative with the backing of the Tea Party Express 鈥� the group that spent heavily in Alaska and helped fuel Joe Miller鈥檚 unlikely primary there. Her opponent is Delaware鈥檚 lone House member, who has twice been elected governor and is a political icon. No one expected it to be a real race, and Palin鈥檚 endorsement last week is one factor making it so tight. Her backing carries the most weight in states with relatively small numbers of voters (about 30,000 Republicans are expected to vote in Tuesday鈥檚 primary), where those who come out are most likely to be swayed by her opinion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 her special relationship with the most motivated primary members this year,鈥� says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia鈥檚 Center for Politics. 鈥淭hey follow her tweets like they鈥檙e an addendum to the Bible."
