Christine O’Donnell is the Republican candidate in Delaware’s Senate race. There are a lot of strong feelings out there about O’Donnell’s candidacy, so I thought I would weigh in with an objective analysis of the pros and cons regarding her suitability for being elected Senator.

Pros:

• Political platform includes the belief that “[v]oting to spend money we don’t have has become the appealing option for too many politicians. The men and women of America know this is not sustainable.”

Cons:

• Political platform also includes the belief that “every individual has a unique, unrepeatable preciousness, and that our fiscal policy should be one that encourages and empowers the individual creativity.”
• Has never articulated any concrete fiscal policy positions, or advocated a specific plan of action she would support in order to reform the federal government’s spending or taxing.
• Campaigned on MTV to end the epidemic of masturbation that is destroying our country.
• Is a young earth creationist that advocates teaching creationism rather than Darwinism in public schools.
• First became involved in politics while working for an anti-pornography crusade.
• Has a lien filed against her by the IRS for unpaid income taxes.
• Uses campaign funds to pay her rent and personal expenses.
• Believes opponents are hiding in her bushes at night to spy on her.
• Lied about her home being foreclosed on.
• Lied about receiving a college degree.
• Lied in court filings about being prevented from attending Princeton for a Master’s degree, when she did not even have an undergraduate degree at the time.
• Thinks that lying is always wrong, even when it is to Nazis for the purpose of saving Jews you have hidden in your house.
• Supports the “ex-gay” movement.
• Uses phrases like “get your man-pants on.”
• Has failed to pay past campaign debts, while continuing to divert all campaign funds towards spending on the current campaign.
• Has no savings, no investments, owns no property, and reported receiving only $5,800 in income in the last year.

But she believes in fiscal responsibility, even if she doesn’t practice it, so that makes her an ideal politician, right? Right?

I have mixed feelings about the Tea Party, but one thing that always kept me hopeful it would amount to something useful was the general resistance among the Tea Party infrastructure, such as it is, to get drawn into the ‘culture wars.’ But despite all their claims about a fiscal policy focus, they still wind up choosing candidates like O’Donnell — who are above all social conservatives first, and fiscal conservatives only incidentally. Of course, in O’Donnell’s world, it’s the same thing:

“As I was in Washington, D.C., advocating for the social issues, I realized that they’re all connected, that your approach to protecting the human dignity and protecting the individual definitely reflects in your fiscal policy, and that’s why I’m a fiscal conservative.”

-Susan