Give him points for honesty. The key concept behind his super PAC’s first attack ad of the new election cycle was indeed to belittle the high-profile, politically active Judd. Rove and American Crossroads GPS dropped $10,000 to “stick a pin in her balloon,” going up with a satiric Judd for Senate campaign spot that portrays her as an airhead, a “leader who knows how to follow,” and dismisses her as a silly Hollywood liberal.

Far from a unique personal shot at Judd, the attack is part of a long pattern of Rove attacking women in troubling ways rhetorically distinct from his campaigns against male candidates.

One can say that he is an equal opportunity smear artist, but there is a context and a history to Rove's anti-Judd salvo. He routinely resorts to anti-woman insults and insinuations that cut deeper than his usual attacks – characterizing women in politics as having stereotypically negative female traits (subject to hysteria, too emotional, weak and weepy, bleeding heart, flighty or frigid, and lesbian).

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After all, most of the ugly Republican candidates from the last two cycles were relatively underfunded in their primaries; a little more money thrown into the pot against them is unlikely to make a difference, and it might, as Saloncolumnist Steve Kornacki has argued, even backfire if it winds up drawing Tea Party activists into a fight they might otherwise have ignored. At best, it will help on the margins.

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A staggering 68 percent of registered Republican voters stated that they believe demonic possession is real. Meanwhile, only 48 percent of self-identified Republicans believe in another equally if not more scary natural phenomenon: climate change.

The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling, touted by NPR as “one of the most prolific polling outfits in the country.”

The survey was filled with enlightening gems about how the supernatural world may affect the upcoming presidential race. Women were slightly more likely than men to believe in demonic possession, although this gender gap is not nearly as wide as that of women’s preference for Obama.

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"I think I owe that to my supporters, to at least consider a run," O'Donnell told the Delaware News Journal. "People sacrificed. Not only came out of their comfort zone – sacrificed to work hard in order to win the primary. And I think that I owe it to them to give it every consideration."

After endorsing Mitt Romney last year, O'Donnell told New York magazine in February that she might  be too busy and important to serve in a Romney administration, should he come calling. "Well, who knows," she said. "I have to continue to help Governor Romney in any way that I can. Whether or not I would actually work in the administration depends, again, on what role, on what capacity, and what else was going on in my own career at the time."

O'Donnell's been mostly out of the game since she lost to Democrat Chris Coons in 2010, but the bio on her PAC page describes her current activities thusly: "Christine O'Donnell is a nationally recognized political commentator, marketing consultant, speaker and author.  She's been featured on the cover of Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine and appears regularly on all the national news outlets." In other words, senator might be the only job she's qualified for.

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The Newsweek Michele Bachman cover posted newsstand sales no higher than most other Newsweek covers. The "crazy eyes" cover moved 47,225 copies, according to Newsweek, though AdWeek says other industry sources say it sold somewhere between 35,000 and 48,000. Is that good? Well, "the magazine's single copy sales averaged 46,561 per issue in the first half of 2011."

We are talking only about newsstand sales, not total circulation, but this does mean that Bachmann's incredibly controversial and very buzzy crazy eyes did not "move the needle," as annoying people say. Of course, the actual article about Bachmann, inside of the eye-grabbing cover, was pretty bland. But since when does the quality of the journalism have anything to do with newsstand sales?

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That's what she told the crowd assembled at Women's National Republican Club in New York, where she was apparently booked to speak at the same time that she was booked to be interviewed on cable news by that guy from "The Apprentice." The New York Observer was there:

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During the ensuing general election campaign, a video from 1999 emerged in which O'Donnell told Bill Maher that she "dabbled" in witchcraft in her youth. The Tea Party candidate, fearing that this might alientate her Christian support base, quickly released a video in which she stated, "I'm not a witch." The comment invited a wealth of media mockery (and an SNL spoof -- see below).

In her new memoir, "Troublemaker: Let’s Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again," O'Donnell expresses regret over the video. According to the AP, she writes, "It was a wrong-headed move, made for all the wrong reasons, but it was mine." O'Donnell also blames an insistent media consultant for pushing the idea.

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Although I am utterly flattered, my initial thought was to decline, as 2 year old nephew has more rhythm than me, and my two left feet!!

However Eileen thinks i should do it.

What do you think?

Oh come on, Christine, we know you want to. In the off-chance she declines, though, we've thought of five more political figures who might take her place:

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Two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents are conducting the investigation, though I can help them out a little bit: Christine O'Donnell violated the law against using campaign funds for personal use. Done!

(Wonkette's Jack Steuf wins the headline contest for this story, by the way.)

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The person spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned in the probe. The case, which has been assigned to two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents in Delaware, has not been brought before a grand jury.

O'Donnell, who set a state record by raising more than $7.3 million in an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign this year, has been dogged by questions about her finances.

Her former campaign manager did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions.

------

Barakat reported from McLean, Va.

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Her 2010 endorsements basically show how slapdash the effort will be. She hates Lisa Murkowski, so she endorses a nutty primary opponent -- who wins, then loses embarrassingly, and meanwhile someone leaks cranky e-mails from Todd Palin to the press. She endorses Christine O'Donnell for basically no good reason, then does nothing much to help that poor woman once it's apparent that she's a lost cause and a flake.

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Perhaps "afterglow" is not exactly right. Or "awash."

Maybe I mean "profound relief." Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown, and Michael Bennet (amazingly) in Colorado, Patty Murray hanging on, and most of all, Harry Reid, HAR-RY, HAR-RY, HAR-RY. My man. Dawg! For me, holding the Senate and Harry Reid is almost up there with the Giants winning.

So maybe they have the Aqua Buddha, but we have two months to go with this House, this Senate, this president. People say that 10 days or two weeks is an eternity in politics, so two months is four or five eternities. Two months is eternity-plus-plus.

And that Obama is nothing if not brilliant. This guy has had some liberal victories legislatively, and when word of these victories -- the realities of healthcare, financial reform, student loan reform, etc. -- trickles out, we will have pride and stamina again. We will experience grace again, the grace of generosity to the underdog; the grace of second winds, and psychic WD-40. The grace of unseen water wings.

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Take Delaware, where Christine O'Donnell, previously a political gadfly who had attracted little support in two other campaigns for statewide office, was propelled by Tea Party fervor to the Republican Senate nomination. The candidate she defeated, Rep. Mike Castle, had been considered a shoo-in -- by political observers, by the Republican establishment, and even by the Democratic establishment (which decided not to put much effort into the contest after Castle emerged as the likely GOP nominee -- and led Chris Coons, the unknown Democrat who claimed his party's nomination by default, by double-digits all year. Until O'Donnell emerged from nowhere to win the September 14 primary over Castle, every Senate projection map listed Delaware as a bankable pick-up for the GOP.

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It took news organizations all of a few seconds after the official 8pm closing of Delaware's poll to make the call, which was hardly a surprise, given that O'Donnell trailed Democrat Chris Coons by double-digits in every survey conducted during the general election campaign. Still, her defeat is a vivid reminder of how the Tea Party has complicated things for the GOP in this election. Because of her ideological purity, the Tea Party base insisted on nominating O'Donnell, disregarding cries from party regulars that Rep. Mike Castle -- who consistently led Coons by double-digits all year -- would guarantee a win for the party in the fall. To the base, rolling the dice with O'Donnell was something of a badge of honor, a statement that they'd rather stick to their principles and lose than compromise and win.

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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].

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So sit back and enjoy the following highlights from legendary Taiwanese CGI group NMA's 2010 election coverage. Watch out for clever references to everything from Aqua Buddha and Carl Paladino's bad e-mail habits to Sharron Angle's confusion over whether Latino students were also Asian. (Two videos are available only via link, and the last three videos, sadly, seem only to be available without English subtitles -- but in an odd way, maybe that makes them more fun?)

 1. Delaware: Christine O'Donnell

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Campaign finance experts say the turnover is unusual and could raise questions at the Federal Election Commission about her financial reporting. O'Donnell began with relatively small donations but has been taking in nearly $1 million a week after winning the GOP primary last month.

The latest treasurer to leave is Sandra Taylor, who began just two months ago. Campaign manager Matt Moran is now listed as treasurer in reports filed earlier this month.

Taylor could not be reached and O'Donnell's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Despite a spate of television ads aimed at reintroducing her to voters, Republican Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell of Delaware has failed to chip away at Democratic nominee Chris Coons' strong lead, according to a new poll. She even may be going backward.

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The press' heroic work revealing just how much of a huge jerk Joe Miller is has also worked like a charm: 68% of Alaska voters have an unfavorable opinion of the smoldering hearthrob with his own personal goon squad and a history of alienating his coworkers with constant paranoid lying.

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The survey released Thursday from Fairleigh Dickinson University-PublicMind shows Coons holding a commanding 21-point lead, with 57 percent of likely voters saying they will vote for him compared to just 36 percent for O'Donnell. O'Donnell trailed by 17 points in a similar Fairleigh Dickinson poll released earlier this month.

"It would be an historic comeback for her to win on Tuesday," said Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson political scientist.

Cassino said O'Donnell, a tea party favorite who spent years as a conservative evangelical commentator on cable television, would probably win in other states that have more social conservatives and a larger tea party presence.

"But there just aren't enough in Delaware," he said.

O'Donnell, who has raised more money than Coons, has been dogged by past television appearances in which she spoke out against masturbation, characterized homosexuality as a disorder, and acknowledged dabbling in various religions, including witchcraft as a teenager. She also has drawn criticism for her thin resume and spotty financial history.

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