Christine O’Donnell — 'I Dabbled in Witchcraft'

Here's how Maureen Dowd describes Christine O'Donnell:

This anti-abortion, anti-masturbation, anti-premarital-sex, anti-stem-cells, anti-gay-marriage, dubious-about-evolution Christian conservative has rocked politics by snatching the Delaware Republican nomination for the Senate away from the seemingly sure-thing moderate Mike Castle.

Interestingly, Dowd goes on to say "We the People in the Ruling Class Elites do think O’Donnell comes across as alarmingly loopy," and that O'Donnell "might have gone a broom too far, though, when she once told Bill Maher that she had 'dabbled into witchcraft” and went on a date with a witch that included “a midnight picnic on a satanic altar'."

Last week's NYT editorial page echoed Dowd's "Ruling Class Elites" sensibilities:

Republican leaders have to decide if they want the tiny fraction of furious voters who have showed up at the primary polls to steer them into the swamp for years ahead. They have a chance to repudiate the worst of the Tea Party crowd and show that they can govern without appealing to the basest political instincts.

So now that Bill Maher is sewing the Scarlett Letter on O'Donnell, the editorial elites at the Times will no doubt soon look to issue their coup d'grâce. I seriously doubt that revelations of Christine O'Donnell's growing pains will have much impact on her electoral chances, especially in this political environment. She's already eccentric. She's already iconoclastic. And she's already scaring the holy guacamole out of the "Ruling Class Elites."

What's especially interesting is how the Wicca Tapes are further exposing the fault lines among right-wing bloggers after the blogosphere blowout before the primary. Both Patterico and Power Line are calling this the end of O'Donnell's career. Meanwhile, Dan Riehl and Jeff Goldstein are taking the long perspective. As Jeff notes:

O’Donnell may turn out to be a total loon. That’s not what I’m concerned about. Nor do I believe she is beyond criticism. What bothers me is the attitude about who is supporting these grass roots conservative candidates that is being made manifest by putative conservatives.

I'd underline that point about "putative conservatives." Patterico and Power Line are over in Think Progress territory on this one, which means George Soros territory. I get a baby barf in my throat just thinking about that.

Cross-posted from American Power.