O'Donnell gets Tea Party backing

Long-shot Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell continues to line up support from conservative interest groups for her GOP primary bid against Rep. Mike Castle, with a nationally prominent tea party organization the latest to come to her aid.

The Tea Party Express, which unloaded a half a million dollars on behalf of Sharron Angle in the Nevada GOP primary and backed GOP Senate candidates Rand Paul in Kentucky and Mike Lee in Utah, endorsed O’Donnell Tuesday, lauding her “strong voice for conservative constitutionalist principles” and lambasting Castle as a “liberal establishment Republican who has repeatedly turned against conservatives.”

"We long ago announced our intention to hold Mike Castle accountable for his failed record in Congress, and now we have an excellent shot to make sure he is defeated by a solid conservative candidate," said Tea Party Express coordinator Joe Wierzbicki.

O’Donnell’s campaign, which picked up the backing of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List earlier this month, has been making overtures to conservative groups unhappy with Castle’s support for the bank bailout, cap and trade and abortion rights, and hired a political action committee director Monday to ramp up outreach.

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