tell, but the bottom line is that establishment republicans believe that if christine o donnell wins today, not only do they lose the senate seat, but that cold determine democratic control of to senate, and there is a lot riding on that in the republican world of delaware tonight, john. and just to the group, jess makes a great point, because i sat down mitch mcdonnell, the senator republican who was rattling off the seats they need and delaware was one of them. now, you have been backing the tea party campaigns and said that mike castle is too moderate for your taste, and i want you to listen to him here, because he says he is part of the national movement of the tea party to purge republicans who will do business god forbid with the democrats. this particular campaign has become a bit of a test of can, you know, the very conservative elements of the republican party take out an incumbent with whom they do not always agree.
win. and also, our cnn correspondent dana bash is there, and the democrats are back for the first time since being home since the august recess, and they are nervous, and dana, just a few moments ago put a very important question to speaker of the house nancy pelosi. reporter: are you concerned are you that your reign as the first female speaker will come to a close well, first of all, this is nothing to do with me. it is about the plight for the american people, and that the contrast to be drawn. republicans are there for the special interests, and the special interests are pouring tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars into campaign to go back into the status quo they had before the elek 14u election of president obama when we took the country in a new direction. great talking points from the speaker there in the answers, and straight forward question, and she shift toind the democratic talking points of the republicans and the special interests, but forget
ares. this is the attitude that has led to directly not a single republican congressman from all of new england, and you know, that is a big deal. this is either a big ten or you aren t and you need to bring the people to the center right, and the republicans are in a great shape, but they need the centrist republicans and they can t kick them out of the party. moderate is not a bad thing for most of the country. this is a spirited debate here in washington, jessica, but what about delaware, because it is a small state, and joe biden has had the seat for 30 years, and tom carper, another former governor, and they are used to the same familiar faces, but the people on the ground, do they want the change. again, john, they are talking to a small segment of the electorate and there are 30% of the registered republicans here will be voting. the message of the campaign has been to attack the establishment, and christine
problem,errick, the northeast is is the a holdout for moderate republicans. if they drive moderate republicans out of the northeast, there is long-term implications, there is. and he is a liberal, and frankly, in my position, i would be happy if mike castle lost. well, erick, as somebody who wants to advance the conservative cause, if it comes down to mike castle in the senate and the result is mitch mcconnell as majority leader and eventually empowered jim demint as committee chairman and jim coburn as committee chairman and you would have a conservative senate, and that is not better than christine o donnell winning the well, pigs will fly before jim demint gets a committee chairmanship and i would rather see a democrat than mike castle in that seat. you don t care about the majority? well, it is the principle. when you look at 2012, the democrats have a bad calendar against them. this is about moving them to the right and not the senate to thep
the state of new hampshire have polls closed. it is a lesson ahead and what are we learning? tonight for first time we have a new member of the best political team, and eliot spitzer, and his new program will be coming up right after this program soon and governor, i want to get to you in a moment, but my first chance to say hello. as we see this primary playing out, and including the tea party challenge up in the state of delaware, what is your takeaway? the republican party is torn asunder by the tea party, and it is creating excitement and energy for them to win in november, but also knocking off some of the candidates they need to be on the ballot to succeed in november. the fringe is powerful when the power is out of power. you have fringe of the party in the form of the tea party challenging the establishment and perhaps allowing the democrats to hold on by not forcing the republicans to nominate candidates who cannot