The Crackpots and These Women

10/28/10

Early in the first season of the show is an episode called ''The Crackpots, and These Women''. As Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe, says in a later episode, ''Good writers borrow from other writers.'' I can think of no better title for this campaign season so today we're going to talk about the crackpots, and these women.


The one saving grace the Democrats may have in this year's election cycle is the high number of Republican candidates whose views and personal histories are far outside the mainstream. The two getting the most attention are the Delaware and Nevada Senate races.

In Delaware, Chris Coons is trying to keep the seat vacated by Joe Biden in Democrat hands and appears to be coasting to victory against the Republican candidate who has received the most media attention this campaign cycle, Christine ''I am not a witch'' O'Donnell. It's true that her political views are somewhat simplistic, but what has really sunk her ship is some of the outlandish things she's said and done in her personal life. To some extent, she brought much of this on herself by refusing to talk to the media anywhere outside of the very closely protected cocoon of the FOX news room, prompting Bill Maher to release old footage of her from youthful appearances on his show. Prior to the Tea Party sponsored victory of O'Donnell over establishment favorite Mike Castle in the primary, Republicans expected to pick up an easy win in Delaware. Now they're just wishing that she would quietly go away. Although there's not much suspense left in this race, it does have some impact elsewhere. In neighboring Pennsylvania, the latest polls show Democrat Joe Sestak pulling even with Republican Pat Toomey. Although Toomey is far to the right, both on social and economic issues, he hasn't advocated for some of the radical changes that O'Donnell, Sharon Angle in Nevada or other Tea Party candidates have. For most of the election cycle, Toomey enjoyed a small but steady lead over Sestak, but over the last month Sestak has pulled even or ahead in some polls by pulling in undecided independents. Some commentators attribute much of Sestak's surge to cross over coverage from Delaware. With O'Donnell getting so much media attention, she has become the new face of the Republican party to many independent voters.

Here in Nevada, Sharron Angle's political views are being attacked daily by Democrat incumbent Harry Reid. Angle is in favor of getting rid of Social Security and the Department of Education and says that conservatives who lose at the polls should explore ''Second Amendment remedies''. As a Republican member of the State Assembly, she defied her own party consistently. So many votes on popular bills were 41 to 1 that some people began referring to it as ''41 to Angle''. But she's managed to avoid the kind of national media attention that O'Donnell has picked up. It's true that the camera is much nicer to O'Donnell than it is to Angle, but the real reason is that political extremism doesn't make the same kind of sensational headlines as O'Donnell's date with a witch or her anti-masturbation campaign from 15 years ago. Never the less, in a state where Reid is extremely unpopular, this race should be a lock for Republicans and it isn't. The latest Rasmussen poll, from October 25, gives her a four point lead with six percent still undecided. Reid and the Democrats have all but given up on selling his own accomplishments and instead are pounding the airwaves with ads denouncing her extremist views. Some independent ads go so far as to say, in a nutshell, ''we know you don't like Reid, but you just can't vote for Angle''. Nevada has a none of the above box on all ballots, which counts as an abstention. If enough angry independents check that box, Reid could still squeak by. Reid may also get some unexpected help from the fact that his son, Rory, is heading for a huge defeat in the governor's race. Voters angry at Reid but scared off by some of Angle's politics may take out their anger on Rory while swallowing their bile long enough to vote for Harry one last time.

Check back tomorrow when we'll look at the insider/outsider divide.