No Castle Endorsement for O'Donnell

Two weeks before the Delaware Republican Senate primary, I predicted it would be a real mess for the GOP if the party faithful nominated conservative Christine O'Donnell instead of long-time elected official Mike Castle. As it turned out, Republicans sided with O'Donnell, and in the process turned a near shoo-in race into one in which they consistently trail. And the mess for the party continues, with Castle passing up another opportunity to endorse O'Donnell.

Delaware Republican Rep. Mike Castle has opted against against running as a write-in candidate for Senate, a decision that strengthens Democrats' chances of holding the seat on Nov. 2.

[...]

Castle, notably, did not endorse Christine O'Donnell, the tea party favorite who ousted him in the GOP primary earlier this year, in his statement leaving the race.

It's hard to see how Republicans win this race, let alone keep it respectably close (enough to make the Democratic Party's apparatus have to step in to save the Democratic nominee, Chris Coons). In fact, the more O'Donnell talks -- and the more what she had to say in the 1990s becomes public -- the greater it is the possibility that Democrats will be able to use her like they're using Sharron Angle, i.e. to drag down other Republicans.