Delaware’s surprise GOP senatorial nominee, Christine O’Donnell, known for her views on family and religion, on Friday made one of her first public appearances since defeating Mike Castle at the Voter Values Summit, hosted by the Family Research Council.
But O’Donnell’s roughly 15-minute speech was largely devoid of social issues or social conservatism. She mentioned God two or three times, and the only other real mention of religion was when she compared America’s return to constitutionalism with returning to the covenant God made with the Jews.
The most fundamental value in America, she said, is liberty.
Her talk seemed straight out of the Tea Party Express playbook (though the Tea Party movement was never explicitly named) and focused on fiscal responsibility and a return to Constitutionalism.
Looking polished in a black suit, pearls, without a strand of hair out of place (reminiscent of Sarah Palin’s early days on the national scene), O’Donnell stated definitively in the beginning: “Well how things have changed!”
Throughout the speech, read from notes, O’Donnell repeatedly referred to a resurgence of middle-class America. The “anti-Americanism of the ruling class” was a clear theme.
Quoting Newt Gingrich, she said “The ruling class elites will never have the last word on liberty.”
“The verdict is in,” O’Donnell proclaimed. “The small elite don’t get us. They call us wacky. They call us wing nuts. We call us ‘we the people.’” What is happening in America today, she said “is a love affair with liberty.”
O’Donnell went on to criticize Obamacare, speak against the expected tax hikes in January (which she called it “just another government bailout”) and decry the stimulus, calling it a “fantasy-land narrative.”
Though O’Donnell did not specifically mention the attacks against her of the last few weeks, she did briefly allude to the Left smearing reputations, distorting backgrounds, resorting to intimidation and attacking families. “They will,” said O’Donnell. “There’s nothing safe about it, but it is worth it.”
O’Donnell spoke about her parents’ struggles to make ends meet, and acknowledged she has had financial troubles of her own, telling the sizable audience that it took her 10 years to pay her student loans.
O’Donnell stumbled over her words numerous times, but that did not faze audience members who interrupted numerous times with cheers and applause. It was clear O’Donnell was the headliner of the day , which included a lineup of well-known conservatives such as South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Gov. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
With a speech that centered 100 percent on politics and not social issues (or masturbation, for that matter), it seems Christine O’Donnell may be attempting to distance herself from the extreme and radical candidate so many have been successful in painting her as.
“The constitution is making a comeback,” O’Donnell said. “Americans want our leaders to defend our values, our culture, our legacy of liberty and our way of life — not apologize … They have rejected the narrative that has been imposed on them by the D.C. cocktail crowd.”