Christine O'Donnell just keeps embarrassing herself

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Sign #45,396 America has a sick political system:

Christine O'Donnell, one of the most embarrassing Senate candidates in recent memory, has her own political action committee, ChristinePAC.

She just won't go away. And -- gasp! -- she's targeting liberals:

O'Donnell, who wrote that her losing campaign sent "shockwaves" throughout the nation, said in an e-mail to supporters Tuesday that her group will look into the groups "funded with one million dollars or more from billionaire leftist George Soros."

"The Left keeps after me because they consider strong, Republican women a danger to their status quo," O'Donnell wrote. "Your donation also enables me to speak out in many venues from Coast to Coast, thereby helping support a nationwide effort. This is a way that will help me counter attack our opponents and bring the battle to them."

But she keeps embarrassing herself:

-- Shockwaves? I don't think so.

-- Liberals are scared of strong Republican women? No, not at all.

-- She herself is a strong Republican woman? Er, not so much.

She just wants to remain the public eye. She's gotten a taste of it, on Bill Maher's show (the location for many an embarrassing comment on her part), elsewhere in the media, then in the national spotlight last year, and she wants more and more, like any junkie. It's not so much about attacking her "opponents" as it is about allowing her to "speak out in many venues." (Um, but if she's really go great, why does she need donations to keep her in the public eye? Shouldn't she be invited to speak, and paid for it?)

I suspect that sensible Republicans -- whatever few there are left -- just want her to go away, much like, say, Sharron Angle, especially after the utter debacle of her Senate campaign, one that ended in her getting utterly crushed in November. But here she is, with her hand out, desperately trying to be a major Republican player.

Good luck with that.

Christine O'Donnell, crook

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, she's back in the news. Not as a self-aggrandizing liar or an evolution-denying fool or an anti-sex fanatic or a self-aggrandizing liar or an anti-gay bigot or a clueless anti-American theocrat or a self-aggrandizing liar or an anti-Chinese warmonger or a shameless panderer or a moronic and supremely unqualified candidate for Senate but as a criminal:

Defeated Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, who ran for vice president Joe Biden's former Senate seat, is reportedly under federal investigation for using campaign funds for personal expenses, the Associated Press reports.

The criminal probe is being conducted by two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents, an anonymous source told the AP. The matter has not yet been referred to a grand jury.  

This actually goes back to September, when a leading watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed two complaints against O'Donnell alleging misuse of campaign funds.

As I said then, let's hope O'Donnell gets the vigorous investigation she deserves. Even in defeat -- massive, landslide defeat -- she must be held accountable for her actions.

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An interesting note: In the ABC News piece linked above, O'Donnell is described in the first paragraph as a "Tea Party candidate." It isn't until the sixth paragraph that she's identified as a Republican.

But of course she was the Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware. Yes, she was also a prominent Tea Party candidate, but her victory in the Republican primary was a clear case of the Tea Party taking over the GOP, at least at the grassroots level, and the GOP welcoming the Tea Party into its ranks as a dominant, if not entirely controlling, influence.

I'm not necessarily suggesting that ABC News is trying to hide O'Donnell's official party affiliation, or to hide the clear links between the Tea Party and the Republican Party, but shouldn't she be described primarily as a Republican and then secondarily as a Tea Partier?