As a result of the Tea Party success in Delaware, different mainstream conservatives like Charles Krauthammer have resurrected the Buckley rule of political activism, to wit, that we should all support the most rightward candidate who is electable. This was the conventional wisdom with regard to the primary campaign between Mike Castle and Christine O’ Donnell. There was much buzz and rebuzz about this Buckley doctrine, but O’Donnell won the primary anyway.
But now this creates an interesting dilemma. Now what? If the judgment was that O’Donnell was unelectable during the primary, then she must still be unelectable now. But that means that the only mainstream candidate in the race who is electable is Chris Coons, the Democratic nominee. And no matter how far left he is, he remains the only electable candidate, making him the most rightward electable candidate. Right?
Now Charles Krauthammer is not about to endorse Coons. But this is only because the Buckley doctrine cannot take the curves it is being asked to take. The tread is clean worn off those tires, and when the roads are wet, that car slides.