Tea Party vs. Republican Establishment

By Bill O'Reilly

Once again, Tuesday night the Tea Party flexed its muscles, as Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Carl Paladino in New York both came from far behind to win their respective races. Ms. O'Donnell is running for the Senate; Mr. Paladino for governor.

Immediately after those victories, the left-wing media began viciously attacking both people, pulling up old tape of Ms. O'Donnell talking about sex and defining Mr. Paladino as a nut. The liberal press also put forth that neither could win in the general election. That's what passes for reporting these days.

But there is no question that some Tea Party-supported candidates are causing angst among some establishment Republicans. Karl Rove, for example, is not a big fan of Ms. O'Donnell's:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR BUSH ADVISER: There is just a lot of nutty things that she has been saying that just simply don't add up to.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST, "HANNITY": Sounds like you don't support her, but I will tell you, I think…

ROVE: I'm for the Republican, but I got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We're now looking at seven to eight in my opinion. This is not a race we're going to be able to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: He's one of the so-called experts whose credibility was hurt last night because he was here in Delaware meeting with a lot of the Tea Party folks, asking them not to get behind me. And their response was, you're asking us to put party power over principles. You obviously don't understand what's going on in the country this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

"Talking Points" is not going to get in the middle of the Rove-O'Donnell brawl. That would not be prudent.

But both have a point. Ms. O'Donnell is absolutely correct in saying that many Republican voters are fed up with the establishment. They want new people to represent them. But Mr. Rove is also right when he says it is likely Ms. O'Donnell will not win in Delaware, a liberal state.

There is a huge difference between primaries and general elections, and independents will play a very big role this year.

One of the problems with being a newcomer in national politics is that you have to learn fast. We asked Ms. O'Donnell to appear with us, but her campaign was afraid to put her on here. That's unfortunate but understandable. This is a tough forum, and Ms. O'Donnell's handlers do not want her to make any mistakes.

But there are less than two months before the general election, so Ms. O'Donnell and other Tea Party candidates are going to have to get schooled and fast.

The truth is there are not enough Tea Party people to put any candidate into office. As we said, independents will make the call.

So Karl Rove is his usual astute self when he warns that just because you're an outsider doesn't mean you're going to get a seat at the table.

This year Republicans have a chance to take the menu away from the Democrats, but they have to win almost everywhere in order to do that.

And that's "The Memo."

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