Is Christine O'Donnell planning another run for office?
Christine O鈥橠onnell, the former GOP Delaware Senate candidate and self-professed non-witch, walked off Piers Morgan鈥檚 CNN show yesterday, if you haven鈥檛 heard. The precipitating moment was a query about gay marriage, but prior to that Mr. Morgan had been going into what Ms. O鈥橠onnell considered a fairly personal line of questioning. So she bolted.
On Friday that she wanted to stop 鈥渢he borderline sexual harassment that was going on.鈥�
The incident bought O鈥橠onnell more buzz than you get from a stadium full of crickets. Did she plan the whole thing? Possibly. Her new book 鈥淭roublemaker: Let鈥檚 Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again,鈥� could use a boost. It was sitting at number 3,329 on Amazon鈥檚 bestseller list, last time we looked.
(However, the e-book version in the 鈥淪tate and Local Government鈥� nonfiction category. So that鈥檚 something.)
But here鈥檚 another thought: possibly this is not about books, but about politics. Is O鈥橠onnell planning another run for office?
At the end of her "Today Show" appearance O鈥橠onnell was asked if she plans to be a candidate again. She said, 鈥淵ou know, honestly I don鈥檛 know. But what I hope is that I can, going into 2012, continue to remain a voice. I鈥檝e been honored that some people have called me a leader in this movement and I want to hopefully continue that."
That sounds like a non-denial denial to us. What upcoming races might she jump into?
She could run for the Delaware Senate again, for one. Yes, she lost to Democrat Chris Coons in 2010 鈥� but the state鈥檚 other seat, currently held by Democrat Tom Carper, is up in 2012. We bet you didn鈥檛 know that.
Of course, Senator Carper is a Delaware political legend, one of the state鈥檚 most dominant electoral officials of recent years. He鈥檇 be as tough to beat as, say, Mike Castle, the Tiny State鈥檚 longtime GOP congressman.
Oh, right 鈥� O鈥橠onnell handed Mr. Castle his retirement papers by beating him in the 2010 GOP primary.
There鈥檚 also the matter of Delaware鈥檚 lone seat in Congress. That鈥檚 up in 2012, as all such seats are. But currently it is held by a first-termer, Democrat John Carney. If you want to unseat an incumbent, it鈥檚 best to do it as soon as possible, before they dig in and build statewide goodwill from providing services to constituents.
So the opportunity is there. Is she already planning a reentry into politics? We don鈥檛 know 鈥� we鈥檙e not Sybill Trelawney. But Delaware generally is a blue state, meaning there aren鈥檛 lots of Republicans jockeying for electoral posts. So we think she should go for it. We could use the copy.
