Castle’s Wet Finger Doesn’t Like The Way The Wind Is Blowing

"I was *for* it before I was *against* it"

Wednesday, June 23rd at 11:53PM EST

20 Comments

Mike Castle (R [allegedly]-DE) has been so busy yukkin’ it up with his Democrat stick buddies in the House that he forgot about an eeevil special interest group that he is going to need if he wants to beat Christine O’Donnell in Delaware’s September 14 primary, let alone get elected to the US Senate in November; the NRA.

On June 17 Castle and his pal Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) published an op-ed lamenting the Citizens United decision from SCOTUS, and bloviating about what they meant to do about it. They complained about 100 years of established law having been usurped, and railed about the need to protect “the integrity of our political process” against all that evil big money being spent by corrupt special interests to get their hand-picked Politicians elected to office to do their bidding. (Note that they said nothing about that little first amendment thingy that SCOTUS relied on, in large part, to make their decision.)

They wringed their hands about transparency and the need for Congress to create a work-around hoping to minimize or undo the damage SCOTUS had caused…and touted the bill they had co-sponsored alongside political wizards such as Chuckie Schumer. The title of the bill IS rather catchy though; called the DISCLOSE Act, or “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections,” this bill means to “prohibit foreign influence in Federal elections, to prohibit government contractors from making expenditures with respect to such elections, and to establish additional disclosure requirements with respect to spending in such elections.” But somewhere along the way, Castle and his buddies realized the NRA would be negatively impacted so, at the NRA’s request, they wrote in an exemption for them.

That’s where Castle’s troubles began…and five days after Castle’s proselityzing, he appears to be losing his nerve.

According to The Hill, Castle “is considering withdrawing his support and voting against it.” Politicians change their minds often enough I suppose but Castle’s reasons for doing so now are chock full of pandering and political opportunism. In the original WaPo piece, Castle and VanHollen allude to certain exemptions (without naming names) calling them “narrow exemption[s] for certain reporting requirements for large, long-standing citizen-based organizations on the condition that they spend no corporate donations for campaign purposes.” What they don’t say (and it takes reading the Hill article to find out) is that it’s the NRA which was first targeted in these so-called “narrow exemptions” and Castle is going to NEED the NRA if he is going to beat primary challenger Christine O’Donnell.

Apparently, Castle was fine with giving the NRA a pass, but once all the other big names wanted a piece of the action he got to thinking he ought to get out now…while the getting was good. There’s a primary after all, and who wants to be on the wrong side of potential donors when there’s so much money to be had? It’s what career politicians DO, after all.

Castle’s primary opponent, Christine O’Donnell, issued a statement on Castle’s DISCLOSE nonsense, calling it more like a “Grassroots Gag Order”:

This bill will ensure that only those willing to cut Backroom Deals will ever be able to play in the political process.

It’s being called the Castle-Van Hollen Bill, (HR 5175). I call it the Grassroots Gag Order! (Yes … this bill is named after my liberal Republican Primary opponent Mike Castle.)

Even worse … Chris Van Hollen admitted the bill is crafted to impact the 2010 mid-term elections[1]!!!

Talk about dirty politics …

The so-called “Disclosure Act” limits corporate spending on political campaigns … but here’s the clincher … exempt from this bill are big-corporations and organizations with millions of members.

So who’s left? Only the citizen-activist groups fighting back against the Washington Elite and Lords of the Backroom, the same groups that have been so successful in booting out Career Politicians such as liberal Arlen Specter.

This is not a “Disclose” Act, this is a Power-player Protection Act, a Grassroots Gag-Order.

Only those willing to play according to the rules of the Backroom will be allowed to play this election-cycle?!!

The ultimate abuse of power … don’t let that happen. Don’t let our elected officials abuse the legislative process for their own political protection.

Enough is enough … it’s time to fight back. It’s time to replace Career Politicians with Citizen politicians.

The bill itself is nonsense, and a Republican supporting it (let alone co-sponsoring it) in an election cycle borders on the surreal. That Castle allowed exemptions, and then got cold feet about others being helped up on to the bandwagon makes it, and him, a joke.

[Note: Crossposted from The Minority Report]

20 Comments Leave a comment

The defeat

Dr. Botkin Thursday, June 24th at 2:23AM EST (link)

of Mike Castle for the US Senate may mean one less member with an R after his name, but it will also mean one less treacherous phoney with an R after his name. GO CHRISTINE!

This is the biggest Primary remaining this year

SirGladiator (Diary) Thursday, June 24th at 5:11AM EST (link)

There is no denying that, barring scandal, Castle is guaranteed victory against the guy the Dems are running, since they lost the only guy (Joe Biden’s son) who would’ve even had a chance at winning in a Republican year like this one. However if Christine is able to win the Primary against a powerful, entrenched liberal Republican (in name only) like Castle, she will definitely be strong enough to win against a much weaker Democrat opponent in the fall. I’d say if O’Donnell wins the primary the GOP chances of winning the seat go from 100% to 90%, mainly because she, being newer, would have a higher chance of making some kind of major gaffe before election day. Scandal/major blunder is about the only way either Republican would lose this race this yer.

This is a tough race, because everybody knows Castle, he’s a career politician and he’s well known for being a very liberal Republican, but also known for winning, and we all like winning. The question is, would you rather have a certain victory with a liberal democrat with an R beside his name, or would you rather have a very likely victory with a conservative Republican? Certainly Mitch McConnell and his crowd would much rather have the guaranteed win with the liberal, but I’d rather go with the Conservative, even if it means a chance of losing, because as Conservatives we don’t really win if Castle wins anyway. We’re just trading a liberal with a D next to their name for a liberal with an R next to their name, its better than nothing but we can do SO much better this year, this is our year! This is our chance to REALLY gain a seat, take it from Biden Blue to RedState Red, and we can only do that with Christine O’Donnell. My money’s where my mouth is in this race, and I hope others here will donate also, she’s going to need all our help to overcome the establishment, and I definitely believe she can do it.

but also known for winning?

Bryan McCarthy (Diary) Thursday, June 24th at 8:36AM EST (link)

For those stuck in the 2006 2008 mindset, Castle is a perfect choice. However, most people have figured out by now that in 2010 the voting public is holding people like Castle accountable all over the country. Everyone except paid Castle cronies and the very old GOP establishment acknowledges that in 2010, O’Donnell would be the stronger candidate in the general election in November. As an added bonus, we get a real conservative instead of a “Specter Republican.”
The good news in the Christine O’Donnell has an army of dedicated supporters in Delaware. Mike Castle has all the inflexible, arthritic geriatric energy that millions of corporate dollars can buy. We are seeing how that dynamic is playing out all over the country. It’s about time!

DE is not utah

rdelbov Thursday, June 24th at 7:46AM EST (link)

The political reality is that Delaware is not Utah. Obama won +60% in DE and McCain +70% in Utah.

There has been just one statewide GOP winner in DE this decade and that would be Mike Castle. Not a big fan of Castle’s views but there you have it. If you want 51 GOP seats this fall you need Mike Castle.

Coons is not a pushover he beats anyone but Castle.

Ms. O is no Mike Lee and Mike Castle is no Bob Bennett. Mike Castle is very popular with the GOP grassroots in DE while Bennett was not in Utah. Mike Lee is a one of the 10 or so best appealate advocates in the USA with Alito on his resume. Ms. Oconner has been a TV commentor.

So how do you feel about Castle now?

VizBiz (Diary) Thursday, June 24th at 7:48PM EST (link)

I agree with Gladiator. You’re just trading one Liberal for another if a D wins. Castle just got his bill passed in the House with his special deal for the NRA.

I’m dropping my membership and I’d like to see others do the same. If the NRA can’t stand up for everyones freedom, then screw’em …… And Castle too

Runs with scissors, walks with Wacom.

I'd Rather Have Castle

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 12:38PM EST (link)

Castle voted against Obamacare, the Stimulus Bill, the Jobs Bill, the repeal of DADT, a withdrawl date from Iraq and the list goes on and on.

Chris Coons, the Democrat in the race has sent out press releases supporting every one of those bills.

I’d rather have Castle 80% of the time than Chris Coons 0% of the time.

Please, the Republican Party needs to stop cutting off its nose to spite it’s face. The last time we did that we got Obama, does anyone think our nation can survive a government run by Democrats in all branches for another two years?

And Castle did NOT write the exemption for the NRA, but he was willing to support it to get the bill passed. Castle’s bill exempted no one.

Uh Huh...

IJB Friday, June 25th at 1:01PM EST (link)

He also voted FOR Cap & Trade, TARP, the GM bailout, and the DISCLOSE act, and AGAINST the Iraq surge, among many egregious votes. He also voted to uphold KELO.

Here are two pretty good summaries of Castle’s worst recent votes:

http://removerinos.com/CastleM.html
http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com/2010/05/liberal-mike-castle-congressional.htmll

(I’m still trying to track down if he voted against the original Bush tax cuts in 2001 & 2003 – my recollection is that he did, but I can’t confirm that… Followup: As far as I can tell, Castle at least voted FOR the 2001 tax cuts, though publicly blabbed about how he had “reservations” about them… )

TARP

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 1:19PM EST (link)

Of course Castle voted for TARP.

Delaware has more people working for financial institutions than it had 2008 Republican primary voters.

By voting for TARP, Castle voted to protect the jobs of his constituents and one of the largest industries in the state. That’s what Delawareans want in a Senator. Would Texans vote for an anti Oil Industry candidate? Would West Virginians vote for an anti Coal Industry candidate?

And if you’re going to cite Castle’s voting record, try citing it from a source that isn’t part of his opponent’s campaign or from one of her supporters.

Slanted sourcing is disingenuous at best.

And again, I will take Castle part of the time, over Chris Coons none of the time. As for O’Donnell, she isn’t even on the radar in Delaware, except for a small contingency of 5 bloggers. She was catagorized as “other” in the latest poll with several other candidates, while Castle was ahead of Coons by 23%

How's this for unslanted?

Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary) Friday, June 25th at 1:21PM EST (link)

http://votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=26792

“It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
~Sam Adams

Try This:

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 1:30PM EST (link)

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/c000243/

“Mike Castle has voted with a majority of his Republican colleagues 87.5% of the time during the current Congress. This percentage does not include votes in which Castle did not vote. ”

We can argue numbers all day long, but that still won’t convince Delawareans to vote for O’Donnell. Lying about her education and trying to hide her financial problems won’t sell.

GM

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 1:26PM EST (link)

General Motors, for the record, was also one of Delaware’s largest employers. Unfortunately Castle’s vote failed to save the thousands of jobs GM provided Delawareans, and the large number of employers who depended on GM to survive.

And Castle has apologized several times for his Cap and Trade vote. He said that he will not repeat it in the Senate, and there is no reason to doubt his word. He’s not the Republican candidate with a history of lying to Delawareans. He’s not the candidate who falsly ran as a college graduate and hid court judgments.

You’re citing the “Disclose Act”? Castle was against any exemptions to the Disclose Act. The bill he sponsored had no exemptions. It was written to prevent foreign money and money from organizations who are tax payer supported from influencing elections.

I will post his statement, again:

“As a long-time supporter of transparency in the election process, Congressman Castle took the lead on the DISCLOSE Act because he believes strongly that voters have a right to know who is paying for campaign advertisements. As it was introduced, the bill required corporations, unions and organizations to comply with the same disclosure and transparency requirements when they participate in campaign advertisements, while bans foreign entities and TARP recipients from attempting to influence election outcomes. Congressman Castle worked to ensure the uniform coverage under the legislation and does not agree with the exemptions being made by Democratic members in Congress.”

So, he voted for it despite the exemptions your quote implies he was dead-set against?

Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary) Friday, June 25th at 1:34PM EST (link)

And to whose advantage was that yes vote, exactly? The organizations that won the exemptions or the potential for more votes via his giving in on an issue he wanted you Delawareans to believe he cared so much about?

Let’s re-paste the Hill article link here:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/104697-castle-may-withdraw-support-for-campaign-finance-bill

So much for not being able to vote for a bill that went unchanged between when he said he didn’t think he could support it…and when he cast his vote doing exactly that.

“It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
~Sam Adams

Castle never said

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 1:53PM EST (link)

He would NOT vote for the bill with exemptions. Maybe you should actually read that HILL link you posted.

Castle was committed to keeping foreign money and money from companies that received TARP money, out of US campaigns.

I completely agree with that.

OK, you win:

Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary) Friday, June 25th at 2:17PM EST (link)

When asked whether the exemptions could jeopardize his vote for the overall bill, Dickens said: “Yes, it really could.

“This is a slippery slope,” she said. “It’s just disclosure, for God’s sake … now you’re just handing talking points to those who oppose the bill.”

He didn’t say he could NOT…his spokesperson said the exemptions “could” jeopardize his vote.

What was I thinking?

“It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
~Sam Adams

I can't help noticing

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 2:38PM EST (link)

That you will not address the fact that O’Donnell lied to Delawareans in 2006 & 2008 about being a college graduate. Or is lying to the electorate a new “conservative value” that I was unaware of?

Let Me Make Myself Clear On This

IJB Friday, June 25th at 1:45PM EST (link)

If Castle wins the Primary, I will support him. I don’t like him – still, winning Biden’s seat even with a “70%’er” like Castle is infinitely worth it. (Just as beating Boxer, even with Tom Campbell, would have been worth it.)

But I was neutral on this primary before – now I’m not: Castle has done enough wrong that O’Donnell is worthy of our support.

Personally, I hope Redstate’s Directors take a look at this race and come to the same conclusion…

I hope

rightwingdelaware Friday, June 25th at 2:03PM EST (link)

That the bloggers at Red State would actually look into Christine O’Donnell’s sordid history in the state, from suing the only company that ever hired her in Delaware, ISI, a conservative think tank, to her lying about being a college graduate during the 2006 & 2008 election cycles, to hiding the fact that her house was foreclosed on in 2007 so she could run against Joe Biden, to her padded resume that doesn’t list a job since 2005, to her alleged PR firm that she is unable to name, to having a 2008 campaign staffer ejected from her 2010 announcement because she owed him money, to the fact that she refused to give interviews to Delaware media outlets, to her use of campaign funds for living expenses.

http://www.simplelegaldocs.com/odonnell-faces-debt-tax-issues

http://delawareway.blogspot.com/2010/01/jud-bennett-writes-who-is-christine.html

But let me guess, everyone is lying except O’Donnell, that’s been her excuse, it doesn’t matter that there are court documents to back up that first link.

one statewide GOP winner in DE this decade

Bryan McCarthy (Diary) Thursday, June 24th at 8:53AM EST (link)

New Jersey is far more liberal than Delaware. I think something happened there this year. 2010 is proving to be a turning point. This year, Mike Castle would be the weakest candidate by far. It has nothing to do with party affiliation. If one were to create a fictional “straw man” candidate for anyone to run against this year, it would be Mike Castle. Just look at his FORTY YEAR big spending liberal voting record. He is everything that voters are rejecting everywhere this year. The only ones still supporting Castle on forums such as these are Castle campaign workers repeating this lame talking point, and out of touch GOP establishment fossils who have recently learned to use a computer.
In spite of his corporate millions, because of them, Castle is toast in 2010. It will probably come in September. If not then it will come in November. It is about time. He needs to go!

What did you expect of a RMSP member? [nt]

Martin Knight (Diary) Thursday, June 24th at 9:01AM EST (link)

This is why O'Donnell will lose in Delaware

rightwingdelaware Thursday, June 24th at 10:18AM EST (link)

Here is Mike Castle’s statement on the exemptions:

The wave of exemptions being added to this bill are coming from the Democrats they were not written into the bill by Castle.

O’Donnell’s press release trashing Castle for exemptions that he did not author shows the same desperation and a willingness to distort the truth that O’Donnell displayed in 2006 and 2008 when she was on the campaign trail lying to Delawareans about being a college graduate and frantically trying to hide her financial messes.