(Thumbnail Image: The New York Times)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: “Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Delaware have spoken.”
CARL PALADINO: “You’re welcome to join the people’s crusade.” (Video from KETV)

Tea Party-backed candidates Christine O’Donnell of Delaware and Carl Paladino of New York bested their more moderate Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primaries. The media’s morning-after narrative? It’s tea time.

WTVT: “Pass the ice tea. Party time for Tea Party movement.”

KCRA: “The Tea Party movement has a new victory to celebrate.”

WFLD: “The Tea Party has scored a major victory as voters continue to show that they are upset with the way that things are going on in Washington.”

But those Republican wins might not be Republican gains. Tampa Bay’s Fox-affiliate WTVT suggests running fringe Tea Party candidates in the general election creates a problem for the GOP, who needs candidates who can win but still appeal to the conservative base.

“And you know, there is still the possibility that they could make big gains in November. But this really created a little bit of a turmoil here. There’s a lot enthusiasm here that Republicans are trying to harness. But this Tea Party issue is becoming more difficult to contain.”

And in Delaware, to say that Christine O’Donnell is an underdog would be an understatement.

On Fox News, former Bush advisor Karl Rove even went so far as to say O’Donnell ruined the party’s chances of winning in November.

But RedState’s Ben Domenech says Republicans shouldn’t back moderates for the sake of a Republican win. He goes so far as to call it a “self-defeating proposition.”

“Career politicians ... dilute the brand, confuse voters and sell out conservatives just at the moment they are needed most. It’s not about being right rather than winning, it’s about the definition of winning in the long term, which cannot be done with elected politicians who don’t believe in conservatism.”

And according to ABC’s Karen Travers, that kind of GOP infighting has Democrats elated.

“Now it looks like the Democratic candidate Chris Coons is the favorite, and Christine O’Donnell trails him by about double digits right now. Democrats are really going to make a lot of hay about comments that Republicans made about Christine O’Donnell. In fact, the chairman of the Republican party in Delaware, he said Christine was so unelectable, she wouldn’t even be elected dogcatcher. These are comments that Democrats are really going to bring up and say, we don’t even have to criticize Christine O’Donnell; Republicans are already doing that for us.”

But on Fox Business, Chris Cotter says he doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. Don’t Tea Party candidates and mainstream Republican candidates stand for the same thing?

CHRIS COTTER: “It’s the Republican primary, the winner is always going to be in favor of low taxes, and small government. So if that's what the tea party is in favor now, what are traditional GOP candidates in favor of? I mean, if they’re not in favor of that, what are they in favor of?”
DANA PERINO: “They are for those things. And part of this whole movement is people just want someone new.”
 

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