I don’t have a problem with conservative candidates at all. I prefer them – when they can win. FWIW, I suspect that a more conservative candidate than Castle could have won in Delaware in 2010. It was a great Republican year. But there wasn’t a serious “more conservative” candidate available. Taking a flyer on Christine O’Donnell because she was more conservative was a sucker’s bet.

(I’ll grant that the witchcraft attack was over the top, even at the time, but her decision to respond with the “I am not a witch” ad was nuts – not the mark of a serious candidate. )

When she was about 16. You’re really scraping here.

Actually, pretty much all the candidates the Delaware Republican Party has nominated in the last 20 years have lost by similar margins, so I’m not sure why you fancy her ideology is the problem.

Of course there is uncertainty, but the case that O’Donnell would have won if only she’d had more party support is very weak.

I get your point about Castle refusing to endorse O’Donnell. I even think that she would have done better if he had. But O’Donnell lost by 16 points. I really don’t think that Castle’s non-endorsement made the difference.

I get your point about uncertainty too. (Of course it occurred to me BTW.) I can even cut a little more slack to Delaware Republican primary voters in 2010 because that was before the GOP gave away so many Senate seats by nominating poor candidates. Here in 2021, however, we have a pretty strong record suggesting that it is a bad idea to nominate very conservative candidates in blue and purple states, especially very conservative candidates with big vulnerabilities (e.g., history of witchcraft, etc.).

Did it occur to you that people make decisions under uncertainty as a matter of course? The ‘=’ sign is inappropriate. Here’s a more constructive suggestion to the Delaware Republican Party’s donors and recruiters: quit ginning up useless careerists. Already plenty of those on Capitol Hill, including both Republican floor leaders.

I was not suggesting that Chris Coons is an eccentric with principles. Sorry, I thought that was clear.

Chris Coons? Haven’t heard a peep from him about any of those “principle” things that have gotten Manchin or Sinema into trouble with the Democrat Party in 2021. Funny thing those eccentric principles displayed by Coons (they are the invisible kind).

Did it occur to you that they might have chosen someone who (1) asked for their vote and (2) took an interest in their priorities and not the Chamber-of-Commerce priorities? This framing of yours stinks. Try a different frame: the choice between an eccentric with principles and a careerist who just sucks up to donors and takes your vote for granted.

I’m not saying that you always choose electability over beliefs. I suspect we could win in Alaska with a candidate significantly less squishy than Murkowski, for example. If R’s have a good chance of nabbing a Senate seat in a blue or purple state though, they should take it!