Delaware ad wars heat up
Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director
(CNN) – One day after the Democratic party went up with an television commercial questioning Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell's "fiscal responsibility," a major Tea Part organization says new TV and radio ads in support of O'Donnell are in the works.
CNN has learned that the Tea Party Express, the group that spent approximately $250,000 to help O'Donnell win an upset victory over longtime moderate Republican Rep. Mike Castle in last week's GOP primary, is now working on a similar effort in the general election.
"We already have radio and TV ads that are in the works, and we are also putting together a mail program to reach voters in the state," Tea Party Express political director Joe Wierzbicki tells CNN.
Wierzbicki says that they'll probably extend their ads buys to the expensive Philadelphia television market, as they did in the primary. The populous northern part of Delaware is covered by the Philadelphia market. And he adds that the commercials are a mix of ads supportive of O'Donnell and critical of New Castle County Executive Chris Coons, the Democratic Senate nominee.
Sunday the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee went up on television in Delaware with an ad attacking O'Donnell, a conservative commentator who launched failed bids in 2006 and 2008 for the Senate in Delaware and who was considered a longshot against Castle until she received an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and assistance from the Tea Party Express.
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Watchdog group: Delaware candidate's spending 'flat-out illegal'
CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - A watchdog group says it plans to ask authorities in Delaware to investigate Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's finances.
At issue are more than $20,000 of spending in 2009 and 2010 that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims was illegal.
"It turns out Miss O'Donnell has treated her campaign funds like they are her very own personal piggy bank. She's used that money to pay for things like her rent, for gas, meals and even a bowling outing. And that's just flat-out illegal," said Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director.
In an interview on CNN's "AC360," Sloan said her organization would be sending letters to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware and the Federal Elections Commission on Monday asking them to investigate.
LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT: #609 'I love my job...even when I don't'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
I used to love the song Manic Monday by the Bangles. (Actually Prince wrote it, so that’s another great reason to like it.) But when you’re President I suppose every Monday is exhaustingly manic, even with a letter from me to look forward to…
Dear Mr. President,
Aghhhh! I almost can’t stand that it is Monday again. I have clearly not taken enough vacations this year. And now with the mid-term election underway it’s even harder to catch a break. Ah well. Like I’ve said before, there is no point in complaining about work at a time like this. Everyone I know is either working too hard, or not at all, and that’s the devil and the deep blue sea, isn’t it?
When it comes to work, I try to keep an even keel as they say in the sailing business. (Of course, they also say things like “Avast, ye maties,” and I don’t even know what that means!) Many years ago I read a passage in the Bhagavad-Gita (I went through a period of time when I read a wide variety of religious texts…it was called “college”) which says something like “You have a right to your work, but not to the fruits of the work.” I know I am misquoting, but it’s from memory, so give me a little latitude.
Anyway, I was puzzled by that when I was younger. I mean, what’s the point of work if it’s not a paycheck, a result, an accomplishment? But over the years I have come to see those words as inspirational, and never more so than when I am feeling overworked, overtired, and under appreciated; all of which every president must feel at times.
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