By Mary Claire Kendall
 |
| http://us.macmillan.com/troublemaker-1/ChristineODonnell |
Her
prospects dimmed in the early, whirlwind days of her general election campaign
after the “I’m not a witch” ad went viral within minutes of its release by the New York Times. “Somehow,” she writes, “this ridiculous
commercial had been slipped to the media.” Somehow?
She
told her ad maker, Fred Davis, she didn’t like the ad and didn’t want to make
it. And, in what has got to be the
biggest lesson learned, she didn’t do what Mitt Romney famously said he likes
to do—fire him! As Mark McKinnon,
President George W. Bush’s media consultant said, when asked to comment: “If a candidate can’t control
their consultant, they shouldn’t run for office.” Tough but true, yet seemingly unthinkable.
Davis also made ads for Senator John Cornyn, Chairman of the National
Republican Senatorial Committee.
But in
losing, she won—as she sets forth in this compelling, delightful and inspiring
account that tells who she is: A class act, full of character and heart
with a gift for communicating and a deep and abiding belief in the core,
foundational principles upon which our nation was founded—rooted in the rights
and dignity of man.
Her
storytelling powers are impressive.
The
second youngest of six children, Christine Therese O’Donnell was born in 1969
during the summer of Woodstock and the Moon landing, to a family that’s the
typical, American melting pot of hardworking immigrants—in her case, Irish,
English and Italian. Her paternal grandmother is believed to be descended from
the longest living signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Carroll.
Her
heart for the underdog shines through early when, at age 6, it was her turn to
choose the family Christmas tree. She selected a scrawny little tree she
thought no one else would pick.
She
also learned forgiveness and survival early on—especially on a family trip to
Florida to visit her estranged grandfather. The visit went so well, they were
soon packing him up for the trip back north, but forgot 10-year old
Christine. Hours later, upon their
return, there she was, busily selling the backyard tree’s residuals.
Her
family, she writes, had its struggles. Her father mirroring his father,
succumbed to alcoholism but with the love and honesty of his family, was able
to dig out of that hole and become, as she writes, the person he was meant to
be.
It
was in college that O’Donnell was utterly transformed when a friend educated
her about the life of a pre-born baby.
An activist was born.
From
that spark, one opportunity led to another—on the 1992 George H.W. Bush campaign,
then the RNC, working for Chairman Haley Barbour, then Concerned Women for
America, followed by The Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth, where she
recommitted herself to Jesus.
O’Donnell’s
growing media presence led to appearances on Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect—where she uttered those famous three little
words “dabbled in witchcraft” (i.e., dated a guy briefly and read about what he was into). Her role then was
connecting with her peers, many of whom more
than dabbled.
Then
she started her own Washington-based media consulting business.
About
this time, her “Grandmom Chillano” was dying of Alzheimers. This, she writes, is when she became an
adult—taking charge to organize her siblings to share the burden of helping
their Grandmom at night. On her shift,
her Grandmom stood up on her bed all tense over being late for her job, putting
tags on dresses—her first job.
Christine, as the daytime caregiver counseled her, did not try to
contradict her view of reality but rather started singing a song to her—one she
remembered singing when she would attend mass with her as a little girl—that
calmed her down.
Grandmom
Chillano had taught her valuable lessons.
“Class,” she told her “is about character, not money… Doing the right
thing and treating others with respect is not something you can buy.”
After
O’Donnell moved to Delaware, friends and acquaintances started to see in her a
U.S. Senate candidate. First dismissing it out of hand, she soon thought, why
not!
In
2006, with little time left, she managed to mount a fairly successful write-in
campaign. In 2008, she won the primary
then lost to Senator Joe Biden, who was also running for Vice President. He
relinquished his seat only after being sworn in as Vice President. In 2010, she
ran, winning the primary and a Romney endorsement—a favor she returned in 2011
by endorsing him; but, she lost the general when the “establishment” carpet
bombed her.
In
2011, as she writes beautifully in Chapter 11, she found it in her heart to
forgive all the nasty tactics, deployed by even those in her own party! She had a lot to forgive.
Before
she ran in 2008, she was warned if she did so, she’d be totally destroyed. The
day after she announced, she and some family members received audit notices.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The
thuggery continued in 2010. And, predictably, her Democratic opponent, now
Senator Chris Coons, twisted her comments, especially those made at the CNN
debate, regarding “separation of church and state” and the first amendment. She sets that record straight, laying out
what Thomas Jefferson, who first used the phrase, intended, in contrast to how
it’s been perverted; but the media failed to report these facts.
All
the dust having settled, she continues to fight the good fight—with the help of
her newfound Catholic faith, one thing she does not write about in her
book. (A feature on her faith journey
will be published in next week’s edition of The Wanderer.)
Whether
she runs again, or finds another avenue for her passion and talent, O’Donnell
will continue making a difference in changing hearts. And, isn’t that after all
the overarching goal? For, if you change
laws without changing hearts, it’s an incomplete victory.
Originally published in The Wanderer, March 15, 2012 issue
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