Win or lose, Christine O'Donnell's no Barack Obama

By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

The Atlantic headline trumpets, "Former Volunteer: Nominating O'Donnell Could Ruin the Tea Party."

Oh, my. With the whole political establishment out to destroy the Tea Party, could one candidate really do that?

The 2008 Delaware Republican nominee for Senate, who's giving it another go this election, must be more powerful and have more baggage than . . . than . . . Sarah Palin!

With all the certifiable nuts and liars in Congress on the Democratic side -- Alan Grayson, Madame Speaker herself, Barbara "call-me-Senator" Boxer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and a few on the Republican side, Christine O'Donnell looks like the picture of stability and honesty simply by comparison.

There are a number of controversies circulating about Christine O'Donnell. One involves her having received her undergraduate degree 21 years after her graduation date. Of course, Barack Obama still refuses to release his academic records, so we can't see details such as his grades and who may have paid for his education.

Reports are out O'Donnell owed about $10,000 in taxes and defaulted on a mortgage. As to the tax matter, that qualifies her for a cabinet position in the Obama administration.

As to the mortgage, she didn't have a fundraiser-land developer friend like convicted felon Tony Rezko to give her a sweet deal, nor was she eligible for a ‘Friends of Angelo' mortgage like the one given to Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the banking committee.

Tsk, tsk. If only she had been elected to the Senate before the Tea Party movement arose.

Then there is her lawsuit against the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute, for the lawyerly amount of $6.9 million, which she ultimately dropped because she couldn't pay the lawyerly fees.

This is the most troubling for those of us who are fans of ISI.

Of course, as a young attorney, Barack Obama sued Citibank under the Community Reinvestment Act, which was the strategy of the left that forced banks to make bad loans, and which ultimately contributed to the subprime mortgage meltdown.

It's obvious Ms. O'Donnell didn't set her sights high enough. Unlike John Kerry, she doesn't own a yacht, and isn't seeking the most tax-favorable jurisdiction in which to dock one.

RedState made this observation about O'Donnell's opponent in the September 14 primary, Mike Castle: "In his forty years as a ‘public servant' Mike Castle has managed to accumulate for himself an estimated $8 million dollar personal net worth." Either Mike Castle married well or, like Hillary Clinton, has a golden touch with his investments.

Or, he's otherwise parlayed his public service into wealth.

For all the scrutiny Ms. O'Donnell will face if she wins the Delaware primary today, we at least know she's not a gold digger at the public trough.