SALON

Tuesday, Nov 2, 2010 7:14 PM UTC

Christine O’Donnell wants to help kill the START treaty

She's the only Republican candidate who wants to serve on the unlucrative Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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Topics: Christine O'Donnell, War Room, 2010 Elections, Foreign policy, U.S. Senate,

Christine O'Donnell wants to help kill the START treatyDelaware Republican senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell smiles after casting her ballot at the Charter School of Wilmington in Wilmington, Delaware, November 2, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) (Credit: © Tim Shaffer / Reuters)

I know Christine O’Donnell is a clown — and, furthermore, I know that reporters and liberal bloggers fixate on her because it’s easier to laugh at this clown than to worry about the clowns who will actually win today — but I was sort of surprised to see this:

GOP Senate candidates have largely focused on domestic matters during their campaigns, and only Delaware GOP candidate Christine O’Donnell, who is not expected to win, has expressed a desire to join [the Senate Foreign Relations Committee].

The Foreign Relations committee is not as much fun as Appropriations, Finance or Armed Services — because no lobbyist wants to deliver giant comedy sacks of money to a member of the stupid Foreign Relations committee — so, should the GOP take the Senate, all the Republican senators who want to be big wheels will jump ship to one of the cool committees. Meaning the GOP members on the committee will include some of these exciting young Tea Party Republicans, except only Christine O’Donnell wants to join, so I guess she’ll probably end up chairwoman.

So vote O’Donnell, Delaware!

(More seriously, this means that Barack Obama’s START treaty is probably — like everything else that requires any sort of Senate action — doomed. I mean, even if O’Donnell doesn’t win. Because no Republican candidate will get elected this year by promising to help the president rid the world of nuclear weapons.)

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.

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