How Christine O'Donnell's Victory Will Realign the Republican Party

(Sept. 15) -- Delaware Tea Party insurgent Christine O'Donnell stunned the Republican Party establishment Tuesday night with her Senate primary win over U.S. Rep. Mike Castle. She's widely seen as a weaker candidate for the general election, which will diminish the GOP's chances of taking over the Senate. Nevertheless, her victory speaks to the strength of Sarah Palin and the tea party, which endorsed her candidacy. Political pundits are forecasting a new power shift in the Republican hierarchy:

Tea Party Mentality Will Take Over the GOP, writes Ezra Klein at The Washington Post: "Politicians are, by nature, a fearful species. But their nightmares became a lot more specific last night. The Tea Party, for all its unexpected successes, cannot topple every incumbent Republican in the country. But by toppling the right ones, it can make every incumbent Republican vote and speak and act with the Tea Party in mind. So though the Tea Party isn't likely to send all that many of its own Republicans to Washington, the likely outcome of last night's primaries is that the Tea Party takes over the Republicans who are already in Washington, and don't want to be sent home."

Lots of GOP Soul-Searching Going On, writes Jonathan Martin at Politico: "The outcome prompted a round of deep Republican soul-searching about what it said about their party when a political pillar in Delaware like Rep. Mike Castle, a respected lawmaker who was considered a shoo-in for the Senate seat, could not even come within six points of defeating the controversial and still largely unknown O'Donnell."

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O'Donnell's Victory Is Evidence of a National Trend, writes Dan Balz at The Washington Post: "Her victory, which was almost unthinkable a few weeks ago, provided tea party and grass-roots activists one of their biggest victories of the year. But the defeat of Castle, a former governor and one of the most popular politicians in the state, jeopardized the GOP's once-high hopes of winning the Democratic-held seat in November's midterm election. O'Donnell is viewed as a far weaker candidate, and Democrats say she is too conservative for the state. But her victory was a reminder of the unpredictable forces at work in politics this year and the power and energy of the anti-establishment sentiment among voters nationwide that could be aimed at Democrats."

Rove Says O'Donnell Is Unelectable. In an interview with Sean Hannity Tuesday night, Republican master strategist Karl Rove spoke disparagingly about O'Donnell: