Frank Rich is kind of off-the-mark. Most of what he says about Christine O’Donnell is actually more true of Sarah Palin. O’Donnell is just a mini-Palin. But her usefulness isn’t that she gives the Republicans some anti-elite cred. Palin has that covered. O’Donnell’s usefulness is that she draws attention away from the radical ideas of more viable candidates like Pat Toomey. While everyone’s focused on a non-competitive race in Delaware, Russ Feingold goes down to a global-warming denier.
Oh, wait! Their entire slate of candidates denies that climate change is happening. But, look! Over there. A witch!! She lied about her Ivy League education. She’s a woman of the people!
Okay, so maybe Frank Rich has a point after all. But I still think the usefulness of O’Donnell (as opposed to Palin) is less about her authentically middle class background than about saying stupider shit that the nutcases who are actually tied or ahead iin the polls. She draws attention to herself, letting Rand Paul’s statements sink down the memory hole. Sharron Angle doesn’t seem so nutty by comparison.
It’s a model for the future. John McCain is such a genius.