Christine O'Donnell's Greatest Hits (VIDEO)
Christine O'Donnell sure says the darndest things — and she says them on television, too. So much so, that it gets kind of difficult to keep track of all the wild and wacky things that the surprise Delaware Republican Senate nominee has said over the years during appearances on C-Span, Politically Incorrect, MTV, Fox News and elsewhere.
Therefore, in the public interest, we here at TPM have put together a best-of reel of O'Donnell's various pronouncements over the years.
The TPM Poll Average gives Democratic nominee Chris Coons a lead of 53.7%-39.3% over O'Donnell, while at the same time Coons was losing to the original establishment favorite Republican, Rep. Mike Castle. So while it's unlikely right now that O'Donnell can win the election, she has certainly accomplished one thing: Livening up Election 2010. Oh, that and preventing the loss of a Democratic Senate seat.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O'Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]
Check out our highlight reel:
• Her admission on Politically Incorrect in 1999 that she had "dabbled into witchcraft," telling the story of a date that involved a movie and blood on an altar.
• Speaking of witches, there is also her 1996 comment that people were conducting a "witch hunt" to find any scandal to nail Newt Gingrich — when they should be charging Bill Clinton with the "murder" of Vince Foster. (Fun bonus: O'Donnell defended Gingrich's finance problems by saying that "taxes are very complicated," and that "you can find something to bring against almost anybody. In the years since then, O'Donnell has indeed had problems with her taxes.)
• Her all-time classic appearance on MTV in 1996, promoting her anti-masturbation campaign, the next level of abstinence: "The Bible says that lust in your heart is committing adultery. So you can't masturbate without lust…You're gonna be pleasing each other. And if he already knows what pleases him, and he can please himself, then why am I in the picture?"
• Her complaint in 1997 that too much money was being spent on AIDS research.
• Her 2003 reminiscence about Lord of the Rings, and the differences between the book and the movies.
• Her insistence on total honesty during an appearance on Politically Incorrect in 1998 — to the point that if she were hiding Jews in her attic in Nazi Germany, and Hitler came to the door, she would say the Jews were there. "If I were in that situation, God would provide a way to do the right thing righteously."
• Her dire warning in 2003 against stem-cell research and cloning — declaring that scientists in America have already cross-bred humans with animals to create mice with functioning human brains.
• Her 1996 appearance on Politically Incorrect with comedian and future Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), during which they debated sexual morality — and Franken jokingly flirted with her!