White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of one of the most powerful clubs in America.

Scandal and Triage Define The Election

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The true theme of the 2010 mid-term elections is clear: panic? No, it’s anger! Wait, no. Oh, right. It’s all about confusing the message.

Whether it’s been increasingly bizarre defense and attack ads courtesy of Delaware’s Christine “I’m Not A Witch” O’Donnell (rightfully parodied by SNL here) or Chris Coons going the “No Comment” route as the New York Times reports. Ignoring the “Mama Grizzly” trope that Newsweek tried to explain, the message behind the Delaware Senate race is tough to understand.

For the Times, Frank Bruni breaks it down as “She: cheerleader pretty. He: science-club-president plain.” This can be applied to roughly 90 percent of politics with ten percent leftover for ads and scandal.

Politico runs the idea that both parties are hemorrhaging members and sacrificial lambs to the media slaughter:

All of it is part of Washington’s biennial exercise in cold-blooded, risk-reward analysis: Figuring out which candidates to fund in the homestretch and which ones to cut loose. It’s the Beltway equivalent of choosing which of your children to put in the lifeboat, as the party committees decide which candidates to throw overboard because they aren’t viable enough to warrant the investment.
Which is also highly accurate when most newscycles become dominated by the spectacular pony shows that an on-camera interview with Alvin Greene can generate. Even better?
Beware a Republican Congress or else Obama will be impeached–sez Jonathan Chait in The New Republic complete with ominous subhed “The coming impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama.” This isn’t actually happening now, but it could! And so could a complete Dem sweep on November 2nd and so could a cloudy day in June.
This election year has been rife with over-analyzation to the point that it’s even grating for regular policy wonks trying to juggle whether or not a “viral” ad will help or hinder a candidate’s message.

Endorsements Pull Through While Incumbents Suffer on Primary Day

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In the primary aftermath, the only campaigns that seem to matter belong to the Tea Party. After Christine O’Donnell, one of Sarah Palin’s picks, took the Delaware GOP primary yesterday and Carl Paladino taking the GOP nod for New York Governor from the New York Times.

Politico brings the word of doom that O’Donnell as the GOP candidate could snatch an all-but-confirmed victory away in November: “In the wake of Tuesday’s results, a state that would have almost certainly been a pick-up for the GOP is now likely to stay with the Democrats, making it more difficult for Republicans to win the 10 seats necessary to take back control of the Senate. ”

And yet, Mitt Romney endorses her.

First Read sums up yesterday’s results as such:

How do we make sense of Christine O’Donnell’s stunning Mike Castle in Delaware, Carl Paladino crushing Rick Lazio in New York’s GOP gubernatorial primary, and Kelly Ayotte and Ovide Lamontagne still running neck-and-neck in New Hampshire’s Senate GOP contest? It’s simple: We’re witnessing a purge within the Republican Party.

On the local front, Adrian Fenty conceded to Vince Gray for the D.C. Mayorship according to TBD–and here’s a possible of explanation as to why Fenty’s campaign hit a snag.
And of course, Charlie Rangel “easily defeats” any and all comers from The New York Times thanks to NY voter apathy.
We’re 48 days away from election day. Who knows what’ll happen next–aside from speculation and analysts waiting to see whether or not the Republican party implodes on itself.