What Karl Rove Should Have Said

John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, offers his thoughts on the GOP spat over Christine O’Donnell’s victory in Delaware. It’s a refreshing read.

Tuesday night, I happened to be watching live when Karl Rove fulminated on the Christine O’Donnell win in the Delaware GOP Senate primary. You can see the full video here but I’ve provided a transcript (from Fox News) of some of the key passages below. Among the things Rove said:

• “This is the inexplicable (emphasis added) one because Christine O’Donnell has come on here at the — very end of the campaign. There’s a huge turnout tonight in Delaware. The total was estimated to be 30,000 people going into the primary and has come out 56,000. She has dealt a defeat to one of the state’s longest, best-known, thought to be most-beloved political figures, a former governor and nine-term Republican Congressman in Mike Castle.”
• “One thing that Christine O’Donnell is now going to have to answer in the general election that she didn’t have to answer in the primary is her own checkered background….I’ve met her. I got to tell you, I wasn’t frankly impressed as her abilities as a candidate.”
• “And again, these serious questions about how does she make her living? Why did she mislead voters about her college education? How come it took nearly two decades to pay her college bills so she could get her college degree? How did she make a living? Why did she sue a well-known and well thought of conservative think tank?”

Here’s what Rove should have said:

• “What a stunning message her win is for America and especially for independent voters, to say nothing of the message to the GOP establishment. A candidate with little past success in politics, with few resources, with no name ID and with reasonable questions about her background that will need to be addressed, defeats one of the state’s longest, best-known, thought to be most-beloved political figures, a former governor and nine-term Republican Congressman in Mike Castle.”
• “Not only did she beat him, she nearly doubled the expected voter turnout. What this means is that this victory for Christine O’Donnell is not about Christine O’Donnell. It means that even in a blue state like Delaware with a reputation for moderate Republicans, the issues animating voters are not partisan anymore. They go to the core of common-sense American values and common-sense principles. Regardless of how you feel about her stance on various social issues, those were not the drivers in this victory. She won because she repudiated the establishment of her own party and she repudiated the spendthrift habits of both Democrats and Republicans.”
• “Her message was simple and will appeal to independents and disaffected Democrats: stop spending more than you take in; stop running up the debt on our children and grandchildren; stop running the Washington favor and bailout factory. That simple message nearly doubled turnout and defeated an icon.”
• “If the GOP establishment wants to win new converts from independents and disaffected Democrats, instead of vilifying candidates like Christine O’Donnell with all her flaws, they will embrace her message that motivated voters tonight in Delaware and are likely to motivate voters on November 2nd and for years to come. We must recognize that this is the principled, commons sense path back for the Republican Party. We should all take our medicine, learn the lessons and cheer her on now till November. Even if she loses on November 2nd, we should make sure the lessons of tonight stay with us for good.”

What happened in Delaware (and Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Alaska, etc.) is not about the candidates…it is about the American people re-asserting their right to self-governance rather than ceding it to the political establishments of either party. It is quite explicable and wonderfully encouraging and exciting.