Divided Republicans pointed fingers and promised to regroup on Wednesday after a stunning Tea Party upset in Delaware dealt a blow to their hopes of recapturing US Senate control in November. Conservative upstart Christine O'Donnell's defeat of popular nine-term US Representative Michael Castle in a Senate primary ended the career of one of the last Republican moderates in Congress and set off a round of Democratic celebrations.
-- Another Tea Party success in New York governor's race
The loss by Castle, who had been expected to cruise to victory in the November 2 election, bolstered Democratic efforts to keep the Senate seat long held by Vice President Joe Biden and made it tougher for Republicans to pick up the 10 Democratic seats they need for a Senate majority.
Republicans are still expected to turn voter worries about the economy and Obama's leadership into big gains in November that could give them control of the House and perhaps even the Senate, once considered a longshot. O'Donnell's win was the biggest in a string of upsets of establishment Republicans this year by loosely organised Tea Party candidates driven by anger at government in Washington and at President Barack Obama's ambitious agenda.
On Wednesday, O'Donnell bickered on Fox News with prominent Republican Karl Rove and complained of "Republican cannibalism" after attacks on her from the party establishment. "I didn't count on the establishment to win the primary, I'm not counting on them to win the general," she said. "They obviously don't see what's going on in the country this year."
Rove, the architect of President George W. Bush's two White House wins, responded with a litany of allegations about her campaign debts, tax liens and personal background that Republicans say will make it tough for her to win in November. The Tea Party's platform of limited government, lower spending and opposition to Obama could impact the Republican approach on the budget and taxes in the next Congress, and has proven a good match with the public mood this year.
"I'm not all torn up this morning," Republican strategist Jim Dyke said. "The mood of the country has not changed from yesterday, and that's an overwhelming opposition to the policies President Obama and Democrats have put in place." Republican candidate Marco Rubio is confounding predictions that Tea Party support for him will be a hindrance when he faces a strong independent and a Democrat rival for a Florida Senate seat in November, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The contest in Delaware highlighted the final day of primaries before November, with voters in seven states choosing nominees for the Senate, House of Representatives and governor's races. In New Hampshire's Republican Senate primary, former state attorney general Kelly Ayotte, who had been endorsed by former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, narrowly led Tea Party-backed lawyer Ovide Lamontagne. O'Donnell also was backed by Palin.
The Tea Party movement won another high-profile race in New York, where political newcomer Carl Paladino easily beat the establishment choice, former US Representative Rick Lazio, in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Paladino, who pledges to spend up to $10 million of his own money, will be a huge underdog in the November race against Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
The Delaware and New York results put new faces on Democratic arguments the Republican Party has been taken over by extremists, giving them fresh hope that moderates and independents who are sour on Democrats will not find Republicans to be a suitable alternative in November. "I think the message is moderates are not welcome. Moderates keep out," Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said on NBC's "Today" show. Polls show tight Senate races in states like Nevada, Kentucky and Colorado where Tea Party candidates were nominated by Republicans.
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