McCain's daughter calls O'Donnell a "nut job"

[Berlin]

(Reuters) - Senator John McCain's daughter said on Sunday that Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware, a Tea Party favorite, is "seen as a nut job."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69G19Y20101017

"Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office," Meghan McCain said of her father's fellow Republican, who recently ran an ad declaring, "I'm not a witch."

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," McCain said O'Donnell "has no real history, no real success in any kind of business."

"And what that sends to my generation is (the message that) one day, you can just wake up and run for Senate, no matter how lack of experience you have," said McCain, 26, author of the new book, "Dirty Sexy Politics."

O'Donnell stunned the Republican establishment in September when she defeated Mike Castle, a former two-term governor and longtime member of the U.S. House of Representatives, to win the Republican U.S. Senate nomination from Delaware.

O'Donnell prevailed with the help of the conservative Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who was John McCain's running mate in the 2008 White House race.

Meghan McCain, who became known for her online chronicle of daily life on her father's failed presidential campaign, ripped into O'Donnell's candidacy.

"It scares me for a lot of reasons, and I just know in my group of friends, it just turns people off, because she's seen as a nut job," McCain said.

O'Donnell has been the beneficiary of an anti-Washington environment fanned by the Tea Party and voter anger about weak U.S. economy. John McCain swung to the right on a number of issues this year to beat back a conservative challenger in his re-election bid in Arizona.

 

[Berlin]

O'Donnell questions separation of church, state

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, appearing to disagree or not know that the First Amendment bars the government from establishing religion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101902501.html

The exchange came in a debate before an audience of legal scholars and law students at Widener University Law School, as O'Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons' position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.

Coons said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that "religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked him.

When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O'Donnell asked: "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?"

Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience.

"You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp," Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O'Donnell's grasp of the Constitution.

Erin Daly, a Widener professor who specializes in constitutional law, said that while there are questions about what counts as government promotion of religion, there is little debate over whether the First Amendment prohibits the federal government from making laws establishing religion.

"She seemed genuinely surprised that the principle of separation of church and state derives from the First Amendment, and I think to many of us in the law school that was a surprise," Daly said. "It's one thing to not know the 17th Amendment or some of the others, but most Americans do know the basics of the First Amendment."

O'Donnell didn't respond to reporters who asked her to clarify her views after the debate. Her campaign manager, Matt Moran, later issued a statement saying that O'Donnell wasn't questioning the concept of separation of church and state.

"She simply made the point that the phrase appears nowhere in the Constitution," Moran said.

During the exchange, she said Coons' views on creationism showed that he believes in big-government mandates.

"Talk about imposing your beliefs on the local schools," she said. "You've just proved how little you know not just about constitutional law but about the theory of evolution."

Coons said her comments show a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the Constitution.

The debate, their third in the past week, was more testy than earlier ones.

O'Donnell began by defending herself for not being able to name a recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagrees at a debate last week. She said she was stumped because she largely agrees with the court's recent decisions under conservative chief justices John Roberts and William Rehnquist.

"I would say this court is on the right track," she said.

The two candidates repeatedly talked over each other, with O'Donnell accusing Coons of caving at one point when he asked the moderator to move on to a new question after a lengthy argument.

"I guess he can't handle it," she said.

O'Donnell, a tea party favorite who stunned the state by winning the GOP primary last month in her third Senate bid in five years, called Coons a liberal "addicted to a culture of waste, fraud and abuse."

Coons, who has held a double-digit lead in recent polls, urged voters to support him as the candidate of substance, with a track record over six years as executive of the state's most populous county. He said O'Donnell's only experience is in "sharpening the partisan divide but not at bridging it."

 

[capncrunch]

O'Donnell's as thick as two short planks. She's got no business being on the political stage except as another character for Tina Fey to play with.

If this is the quality of candidate that the Tea Party's offering, that speaks volumes.

 

[Aardvark154]

It is a shame that Christine O'Donnell rather than Representative Castle won the Primary Election.

However, why do we care what Meghan McCain has to say? She is a 26 year old blogger who has published a memoir of her father's Presidential campaign. I realize that she is a darling of the media but her opinions have more gravitas than "the woman on the street's" how?

 

[hinz]

Anybody notice both John McCain and Christine O'Donnell b'days are only two days apart, in the same month?

BTW, both Meghan and Christine have one thing in common....they look like on the chubby side.

 

[Berlin]

However, why do we care what Meghan McCain has to say?

We know you don't ... becaue she ain't Palin.

 

[Aardvark154]

We know you don't ... becaue she ain't Palin.

However, Governor Palin was a) Governor of a State b) a Candidate for Vice President of the United States c) is a significant politicial figure in the U.S. (whether you hate her or like her I don't believe there is much argument on the point)

So not only is that a red herring, it is also comparing apples to oranges.

 

[Berlin]

However, Governor Palin was a) Governor of a State b) a Candidate for Vice President of the United States c) is a significant politicial figure in the U.S. (whether you hate her or like her I don't believe there is much argument on the point)

Wow, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Should I also point out to you that she is a damn HOT MILF ?

So not only is that a red herring, it is also comparing apples to oranges.

Yes, we do know how you apply your logic when comparing political opinion worthiness. Again, it's obvious and nothing new there.

 

[Asterix]

However, Governor Palin was a) Governor of a State b) a Candidate for Vice President of the United States c) is a significant politicial figure in the U.S. (whether you hate her or like her I don't believe there is much argument on the point)

So not only is that a red herring, it is also comparing apples to oranges.

Governor of a state that has the population of Albuquerque, and who's land is effectively 70% under federal control. Oh and let's not forget she quit before she had even served two years.

 

[Berlin]

Christine O'Donnell ignorant of the Constitution ...



Exact hit point, goto 2:49, 2:50 and 7:05 ( yes , that's the 2nd whammy )

... she got a great smile though ...

 

[Aardvark154]

Governor of a state that has the population of Albuquerque. . .

However, we are not comparing the population or budget of various states, rather the red herring of dragging a past governor of a state into a discussion of someone who really hasn't done much of anything - in fairness in part because of her age.

You don't have to like the woman, however, there are relatively few of us (the wider population not just TERB posters) who have held that office or that of Premier.

 

[Asterix]

However, we are not comparing the population or budget of various states, rather the red herring of dragging a past governor of a state into a discussion of someone who really hasn't done much of anything - in fairness in part because of her age.

You don't have to like the woman, however, there are relatively few of us (the wider population not just TERB posters) who have held that office or that of Premier.

Aardvark, I'm fairly confident you could have done as good a job as she did as Governor of Alaska. Likely better.

 

[Aardvark154]

Christine O'Donnell ignorant of the Constitution ...

Unfortunately it would seem that you are correct.

That many people do not immediately know the subject of the 16th or 17th Amendment is not unsurprising, likely many Representatives and Senators have to take a look at the Constitution I know a great many Lawyers would.

What is surprising is the exchange at 7:05, certainly there is plenty of room for argument about the expansion of the establishment clause since 1960, but from her comments she certainly gives the unfortunate impression that she does not even recognize that there is such in the First Amendment.

That said although she does not give the impression that this is what she is saying - the words separation of Church and State are nowhere to be found in the U.S. Constitution.

 

[Berlin]

... yes, please keep polishing.

 

[Aardvark154]

... yes, please keep polishing.

If knowing something about the subject is polishing - then. . .

 

[Berlin]

If knowing something about the subject is polishing - then. . .

Indeed, some frequently gets confused with knowing and polishing.

 

[Aardvark154]

Indeed, some frequently gets confused with knowing and polishing.

Whatever

 

[Aardvark154]

By the way, the First Amendment Center points out that in this same debate Dr. Coons was able to name only one of the five rights set forth in the First Amendment. (religion, speech, the press and petition, assembly). So it sounds like neither of them are going to be stars of "Are you smarter than a fifth grader."

 

[blackrock13]

Anybody notice both John McCain and Christine O'Donnell b'days are only two days apart, in the same month?

BTW, both Meghan and Christine have one thing in common....they look like on the chubby side.

Must be about 9 months after they spray the crops back home.


At least one McCain family member has it together.

 

[Berlin]

Whatever

... exactly.