I like the guys at powerline. It is a good blog and has been for a long time, however I think this post needs to be answered:
Lest there be any doubt, if I were a resident of Delaware, I would vote for O’Donnell. That is because she is far preferable to her “bearded Marxist” opponent. But O’Donnell is, nevertheless, a lousy candidate. I’m sorry, but politics is not about snatching random people out of the crowd and making them one of 100 United States Senators. Those who seek high office need to be qualified as leaders. They must be thoughtful and intelligent; they must have accomplishments in the public, or, better yet, the private sphere.
So in the same paragraph John goes on about how lousy a candidate Christine O’Donnell is but he would vote for her anyway (shades of Mike Castle here) but lets examine the part I emphasized.
What is the most important quality of a leader?…The willingness to lead. The willingness to put oneself out there with all the warts and issues (and we all have them, it’s just that most of us are too obscure for them to come out) that one has in life. The willingness to instead of saying “Someone ought to do something!” to saying “I’m going to do something!”
No matter which way you cut it, in Delaware all those qualified leaders with accomplishments in the public and/or private sphere that John and those who agree with would like to have supported decided that the prospect of facing Mike Castle in a primary was too much for them. They may have thought “Someone ought to do something.” but for all their accomplishments and qualifications they just were not willing to invest the time and expense to act. In other words, they were not willing to lead.
Christine O’Donnell is a young lady, she was even a younger lady when she was on the Bill Maher show. She knows what her past is, and knows what her warts are. Nobody knows them better than her. Yet when nobody else was willing to step up and say: “I’m not going to let another RINO get elected to the senate.” she was willing to do so. In other words she led.
I’m sure there are a whole lot of more qualified people in Delaware with impressive resumes who would make fine senators , but none of them are on the ballot, none of them had the courage to lead. Christine had the courage to lead and has been rewarded with both a primary victory and the outpouring of Millions of dollars of support from the average American.
As Rush says “The pioneers get the arrows.” Christine O’Donnell is willing to take the arrows for conservatism. She knew what was coming but was willing to do it anyway.
That’s what a leader does. Yeah she’s qualified.
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
Your logic is very tortured. She did not lead, nor is she a leader, simply by running. She saw an opportunity to access money and gain exposure in hopes of getting more marketing/pr gigs.
This woman is a pathetic excuse for a Senate candidate. That any thinking American would try to rationalize that fact away is a far greater indictment of the state of our nation than any of the undesireable policies we may worry about.
Well said.
Also, a leader is someone with followers. The fundraising success ain’t beanbag.
Then were were the other conservatives willing to go out there, to step up front?
In Massachusetts over and over people who have never run for office have finally had enough and come forward to try to make a difference, I’ve seen them and talked to them. They are salt of the earth.
Again half the game is showing up. She was willing to do so, where were the “more qualified candidates” (and I’m sure there are plenty that I would like been happy to support) when the conservative movement needed them?
The good is not the foe of the perfect, I’ll trust Stacy McCain’s judgment who has met the lady several times over pundits who are dying to crucify any conservative.
But thanks for reading
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