Christine and the Tea Party Generation

No to Sex, No to Taxes and No to Obama: The Commandments of the New American Opposition

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are her idols, her preferred topics for debate are masturbation and taxes, she accuses Obama of being a “socialist,” and she has as many skeletons in her closet as you’d like: Christine O’Donnell is the tea party candidate who has, to everyone’s surprise, won the Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate in Delaware, expressing her opinions on faith and fiscal rigor.

Born in 1969 in New Jersey into an Irish-Italian family of Catholic faith, O’Donnell confesses to have experienced the calling when — after a period of which she says, “I by no means was a slut. But by no means did I have the moral code I have now,” and discovering sexual abstinence and literal interpretation of the Bible — she became born again. Her political debut in the ‘90s came under the banner of faith: She founded the “Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth,” which aims to force Congress into favoring Christian beliefs.

The first issue on her agenda is the Lewinsky trial. O’Donnell uses the relationship between Bill Clinton and the intern in order to rebel against a culture of lies. She has been seen on television saying that it wouldn’t have been legitimate to lie even to save the Jews from the Nazis. It’s her hatred of lying that makes her connect with Hillary, Bill’s first victim, while she finds her common ground with Palin over sexual abstinence. O’Donnell believes that men and women should reject “the notion of sexuality as a game”* and help America avoid disasters such as AIDS, stating, “We had the ‘60s sexual revolution, and now people are dying of AIDS.”

In the nation that O’Donnell wishes to create, there would be no constraints on gun licensing; in public schools, there would be no mention of Charles Darwin. Creation according to Genesis would be at the top of the curriculum, and the government would spend only the money it has with regard to the most rigid fiscal rigor. She also has an incredible hostility toward Barack Obama, whom she defines as a “socialist” who has created an economy that is “50 percent or more … dependent on the federal government,” and who is also “anti-American,” because he opposes the law to give the English language precedence over others. If on Nov. 2 she wins the fight with Chris Coons for the seat left by Joe Biden in the Senate, she promises to use her vote to overthrow the health reform and the law to reduce harmful emissions.

Her most solemn promise, which is an act of fidelity to the tea party, is her commitment to “never vote for a tax increase.” Her blend of evangelicalism and fiscal rigor makes O’Donnell into a digest of everything that defines conservatism. But in order to succeed on election day, she must make voters forget the idiosyncrasies associated with her, of which she has totaled up a record number in her 41 years. After finishing her studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University, she failed to graduate because she still had $4,000 in tuition fees left to pay, and ultimately their allocation — in circumstances that are still unexplained — occurred just 15 days ago. In 2008 she was unable to pay her mortgage repayments in Wilmington, and her house was brought to public auction. In the same year, she ran against Biden for Senate but lost due to defection as a campaign manager accused her of being a “complete fraud” who lived on campaign donations. She has no stable employment; in 2009 her income was almost $5,800, and her enemies suspect that she is currently running as a candidate only in order to make ends meet. On the other hand, she lives in a one-room flat that is paid for by the state treasurer. As if it wasn’t enough to have been denounced as mentally insane by one of the few employers she has had, she proceeded to claim damages of $6.95 million. The Republican Leader of Delaware calls her a liar who “could not be elected dog catcher.” But O’Donnell is convinced that she can do it and retorts, speaking about Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, that “… whenever a strong pioneering woman comes onto the scene, there’s some backlash.”

* Editor’s Note: This quote, accurately translated, could not be verified.