There's been a lot of discussion in conservative circles about Charles Krauthammer's (video at the link) invocation of "the Buckley rule" -- support the most conservative candidates who are electable -- regarding the GOP Senate primary race between Mike Castle and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. This race was a real dilemma for conservatives. Castle was too liberal to be trusted with the conservative agenda, but O'Donnell was thought too conservative to get elected in such a liberal state. Now that O'Donnell has won, a lot of Republicans are echoing Krauthammer's view that choosing her was a destructive, self-indulgent move. By holding out for philosophical purity, the primary voters may have blown the chance to get a Senate majority that could help thwart the Obama agenda.
This is the best commentary I've seen so far on the "vexing political conundrum." I recommend the whole thing as a good read, but here's a sample:
It's like something a poli-sci professor dreamed up to torture his students. Mike Castle is the kind of liberal seat-warmer that should be trimmed from a Republican Party getting into fighting shape for the battle of its life, against a dying super-State that will be immensely difficult to bring under control
