Kerri A Odonnell

A prediction: the next Senator from Delaware will know that global warming is real and will support a cap on carbon emissions. That description fits the Democratic nominee Chris Coons, who is running unopposed in tomorrow's primary, and GOP Rep. Mike Castle. It does not fit Castle's primary opponent, the Tea Party Express-funded Christine O'Donnell. There is absolutely no way O'Donnell can win a Senate seat in Delaware. She is an extreme right-winger in a left-leaning state. And Rep. Castle, who has already served as governor and has repeatedly won statewide as he is the state's only congressperson, presents Republicans with a golden opportunity to pick up a currently Democratic-held seat. Castle probably couldn't be counted on to filibuster everything President Obama supported, but he would surely filibuster more than anyone else that could get elected in Delaware. And there is almost no chance Republicans can take control of the Senate -- and fully control the legislative agenda -- without winning Delaware. But apparently because Castle was one of eight Republicans that actually voted for the House carbon cap bill, conservatives are willing to throw all that away. His "cap-and-trade" vote wasn't the only vote Castle took that put him at odds with conservatives. But it is literally at the top of Christine O'Donnell's list of reasons for opposing him. And even if Castle fends off O'Donnell tomorrow, it will be because Delaware still has a significant population of Republican moderates. Today's poll of the race shows that O'Donnell has the support of 62% of the state's conservatives. In other words, if it was up to Delaware's conservatives, they would put rejection of climate science over conservative control of the Senate agenda. Prominent conservative activist Erick Erickson has said this bluntly: "I would rather 50 seats without Mike Castle than 51 seats with Mike Castle." Already, conservatives chose to roll the dice in Alaska in part because of global warming. Incumbent GOP Sen Lisa Murkowski had no chance of losing her seat in a general election, and she has been a reliable "No" vote on the President's priorities. She didn't back any Democratic carbon cap legislation. She even sponsored legislation to prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. But because she had the temerity to acknowledge global warming is real, met with the President to discuss compromises, and has sponsored carbon cap legislation previously, Joe Miller made her climate record "Exhibit A" in his successful primary challenge. Miller may still win the general election -- Alaska politics is far more unpredictable than Delaware politics. But it is indisputable that conservatives took a safe Republican seat in Alaska and made it competitive for Democrats, in part because of their irrational inability to accept climate science. This is the nightmare that GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said he wanted to avoid back in October 2009 when he struck a preliminary climate compromise with Dem Sen. John Kerry. Speaking to a group of angry South Carolina conservatives right after the climate announcement, Graham said: "I'm going to grow this party. I'm not going to let it be hijacked by Ron Paul. I'm going to find people in Maine, Delaware, Illinois, other places that can win as Republicans, and I'm going to go up, and we're going to move this party, and this country forward, and if you don't like it, you can leave." Since then, Graham bailed on the climate talks. Climate science denial is running rampant on the right. And that's making it harder for Republicans to build a broad governing coalition. Originally posted at OurFuture.org

Last week, Mother Jones ran a story about the campaign manager for Christine O'Donnell's unsuccessful 2008 Senate campaign in Delaware, noting that this aide. Jon Moseley, once wrote an article claiming that Obama is a secret Muslim. The article reported that tea partier O'Donnell's current Senate campaign has made payments to Moseley. After the story was published, Moseley sent Mother Jones an angry email insisting that he was not involved in her 2010 Senate bid and that the payment in the Federal Election Commission records this year was for money O'Donnell owed him from the 2008 effort. He wrote, "I have no relationship with Christine O'Donnell's current Senate campaign.... I have not communicated in any way with Christine O'Donnell or her campaign since June 2008, except concerning her campaign paying off expense reimbursements from 2008, which they ultimately did." But days later, a Virginia tea party group sent out an email alerting members to a bus trip being organized to transport volunteers to Delaware to campaign for O'Donnell in mid-October. Who should be organizing the trip but Moseley himself. Moseley, a longtime conservative policy advocate, has set up a website to "support Christine." He claims it is an "independent expenditure" effort that is "not affiliated" with her campaignwhich means it's not covered by the campaign contribution and spending limits that apply to the actual O'Donnell campaign. Independent expenditure campaigns are common, with unions, business groups, and ideological outfits routinely mounting them to support or block candidates by airing ads or running get-out-the-vote projects. All this is legal, as long as these groups do not coordinate their activities with candidates and their campaigns. (For example, a labor union could not ask a candidate where it would be best for it to focus a get-out-the-vote push.) Moseley's effort appears geared toward shipping out-of-state volunteers to Delaware. For $55, Virginia residents can hop aboard a bus in Springfield and head to Delaware for the day to knock on doors and hand out flyers for O'Donnell. Another bus will be coming from York, Pennsylvania. But the group's website describes the project in a way that makes it seem as if it's being coordinated with O'Donnell's campaign, which would be a violation of federal election laws. On the bus sign-up website, Moseley writes that after the buses meet people arriving by car at a mall in Delaware: we will go where we are needed to campaign. We will do whatever Christine's campaign needs us to do. [emphasis added] Are you physically limited? Activities MIGHT include walking neighborhoods to pass out literature, yard signs, bumper stickers, etc. You might also stand still handing out literature at a grocery store or high traffic location if you are physically limited. We also hope to attend a rally with the candidate. THIS IS AN INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE and not affiliatied [sic] with any campaign. Led by Jonathon Moseley, formerly Christine O'Donnell's 2008 campaign manager, but who is not currently associated with the Christine O'Donnell campaign. This bus trip is not associated with any organization. Organizers are using their own private time -- any other employment or associations are coincidental and not related. This project will * NOT * donate any money to any candidate or campaign, except possibly to BUY for our own use literature, yard signs, or bumper stickers to be distributed by our participants at cost. The line about doing "whatever Christine's campaign needs" suggests that Moseley knows what the campaign wants. And how could he without communicating with the campaign? Perhaps this is a case of loose rhetoric. But it could be enough to draw the interest of the Federal Elections Commission. Neither Moseley nor O'Donnell's campaign returned calls for comment. On the website, Moseley also provides some information about himself. He claims to have been instrumental in the "swiftboating" of Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. His brother-in-law apparently owns the publishing house that released Jerome Corsi's book Unfit for Command, which was part of the smear campaign that attacked Kerry's military record in Vietnam. Moseley claims to have helped get the the book published by working with Ohio talk show host Paul Schiffer, who took credit for helping bring together Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Earlier this year, Moseley worked on Schiffer's failed congressional campaign. Moseley's current work for O'Donnell doesn't seem as sophisticated (or elaborate) as the Swift Boat campaign, which was conducted by an independent expenditure group looking to boost George W. Bush's reelection chances. It's focused on a campaign basic:finding out-of-state tea partiers willing to put boots on the ground for O'Donnell, turning her Senate bid into a national cause.

Last week, Mother Jones ran a story about the campaign manager for Christine O'Donnell's unsuccessful 2008 Senate campaign in Delaware, noting that this aide. Jon Moseley, once wrote an article claiming that Obama is a secret Muslim. The article reported that tea partier O'Donnell's current Senate campaign has made payments to Moseley. After the story was published, Moseley sent Mother Jones an angry email insisting that he was not involved in her 2010 Senate bid and that the payment in the Federal Election Commission records this year was for money O'Donnell owed him from the 2008 effort. He wrote, "I have no relationship with Christine O'Donnell's current Senate campaign.... I have not communicated in any way with Christine O'Donnell or her campaign since June 2008, except concerning her campaign paying off expense reimbursements from 2008, which they ultimately did." But days later, a Virginia tea party group sent out an email alerting members to a bus trip being organized to transport volunteers to Delaware to campaign for O'Donnell in mid-October. Who should be organizing the trip but Moseley himself. Moseley, a longtime conservative policy advocate, has set up a website to "support Christine." He claims it is an "independent expenditure" effort that is "not affiliated" with her campaignwhich means it's not covered by the campaign contribution and spending limits that apply to the actual O'Donnell campaign. Independent expenditure campaigns are common, with unions, business groups, and ideological outfits routinely mounting them to support or block candidates by airing ads or running get-out-the-vote projects. All this is legal, as long as these groups do not coordinate their activities with candidates and their campaigns. (For example, a labor union could not ask a candidate where it would be best for it to focus a get-out-the-vote push.) Moseley's effort appears geared toward shipping out-of-state volunteers to Delaware. For $55, Virginia residents can hop aboard a bus in Springfield and head to Delaware for the day to knock on doors and hand out flyers for O'Donnell. Another bus will be coming from York, Pennsylvania. But the group's website describes the project in a way that makes it seem as if it's being coordinated with O'Donnell's campaign, which would be a violation of federal election laws. On the bus sign-up website, Moseley writes that after the buses meet people arriving by car at a mall in Delaware: we will go where we are needed to campaign. We will do whatever Christine's campaign needs us to do. [emphasis added] Are you physically limited? Activities MIGHT include walking neighborhoods to pass out literature, yard signs, bumper stickers, etc. You might also stand still handing out literature at a grocery store or high traffic location if you are physically limited. We also hope to attend a rally with the candidate. THIS IS AN INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE and not affiliatied [sic] with any campaign. Led by Jonathon Moseley, formerly Christine O'Donnell's 2008 campaign manager, but who is not currently associated with the Christine O'Donnell campaign. This bus trip is not associated with any organization. Organizers are using their own private time -- any other employment or associations are coincidental and not related. This project will * NOT * donate any money to any candidate or campaign, except possibly to BUY for our own use literature, yard signs, or bumper stickers to be distributed by our participants at cost. The line about doing "whatever Christine's campaign needs" suggests that Moseley knows what the campaign wants. And how could he without communicating with the campaign? Perhaps this is a case of loose rhetoric. But it could be enough to draw the interest of the Federal Elections Commission. Neither Moseley nor O'Donnell's campaign returned calls for comment. On the website, Moseley also provides some information about himself. He claims to have been instrumental in the "swiftboating" of Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. His brother-in-law apparently owns the publishing house that released Jerome Corsi's book Unfit for Command, which was part of the smear campaign that attacked Kerry's military record in Vietnam. Moseley claims to have helped get the the book published by working with Ohio talk show host Paul Schiffer, who took credit for helping bring together Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Earlier this year, Moseley worked on Schiffer's failed congressional campaign. Moseley's current work for O'Donnell doesn't seem as sophisticated (or elaborate) as the Swift Boat campaign, which was conducted by an independent expenditure group looking to boost George W. Bush's reelection chances. It's focused on a campaign basic:finding out-of-state tea partiers willing to put boots on the ground for O'Donnell, turning her Senate bid into a national cause.

Honorable Mentions: Al Franken, Al Gore, Al Sharpton, Anthony Weiner, Arianna Huffington, Bill Clinton, Bob Beckel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dylan Ratigan, Eric Holder, Ezra Klein, Geraldo, Hillary Clinton, James Cameron, James Clyburn, John Edwards, Jesse Jackson, Jimmy Carter, John Conyers, John Kerry, John Lewis, Kathy Griffin, Lawrence O'Donnell, Markos Moulitsas Ziga, Matthew Ygliesias, Maxine Waters, Michael Moore, Mike Malloy, Rachel Maddow, Roger Ebert, Roseanne Barr 20) Joe Biden: Everybody knows how goofy Ol' Say Anything, Do Anything Joe is! He might tell a dirty jo

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