During their first debate for the Delaware Senate race, Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell proved that conservatives are incapable of understand irony and sarcasm and have no clue what Marxism is. That or she was fully aware of what she was doing and just decided to get a cheap shot in on Democratic candidate Chris Coons by pretending she didn't know full well the article he wrote years ago where he called himself a bearded Marxist was sarcasm aimed at his Republican friends.
We've been through this already but here is the post from Media Matters debunking the attack on Coons from the wingnuts -- Un-bearded: Chris Coons did not describe himself as a "Marxist".
You've got to give whoever coached O'Donnell credit. They had her ready to be a right wing talking points regurgitation machine for this debate, even if she get tripped up on occasion.
BLITZER: Let's give you a chance to respond to some of the things she said because in a television appearance back in 1998 on Bill Maher's show you said evolution is a myth. Do you believe evolution is a myth?
O'DONNELL: I believe that the local -- I was talking about what a local school taught and that should be taught -- that should be decided on the local community. But please let me respond to what he just said.
BLITZER: We'll let you respond but answer the question. Do you believe evolution is a myth?
O'DONNELL: Local schools should make that decision. I made that remark based on --
BLITZER: What do you believe?
O'DONNELL: What I believe is irrelevant.
BLITZER: Why is it irrelevant?
O'DONNELL: Because what I would support ...
BLITZER: Voters want to know.
O'DONNELL: What I will support in Washington, D.C. is the ability for the local school system to decide what is taught in their classrooms and what I was talking about on that show was a classroom that was not allowed to teach creationism as an equal theory as evolution. That is against their constitutional rights and that is an overreaching arm of the government.
But, please allow me at least the full minute to respond to what he said because he said these statements that we made should be taken into consideration when casting your vote. So then I would be remiss not to bring up the fact that my opponent has recently said that it was studying under a Marxist professor that made him become a Democrat. So when you look at his position on things like raising taxes, which is one of the tenets of Marxism; not supporting eliminating death tax, which is a tenet of Marxism -- I would argue that there are more people who support my Catholic faith than his Marxist beliefs, and I'm using his own words.
KARIBJANIAN: We're going to clarify that.
BLITZER: Because a lot of people remember, because they've learned in last few weeks you did once describe yourself when you were in college a long time ago as a bearded Marxist.
COONS: Great question, Wolf. I hope folks will go and read the article. It's an article that I wrote as a senior the day of our commencement speech and the title and the content of that clearly makes it obvious that it was a joke. There was a group of folks who I had shared a room with, my roommates junior year, who are in the Young Republican Club and who thought when I returned from Kenya and registered as a Democrat that doing so was proof that I had gone all the way over to the far left end, and so they jokingly called me a bearded Marxist. If you take five minutes and read the article, it's clear on the face of it, it was a joke. Despite that, my opponent and lots of folks in the right wing media have endlessly spun this. I am not now, nor have I ever been, anything but a clean-shaven capitalist.
O'DONNELL: Well, I would -- I would stand to disagree because, first of all, if you're saying what I said on a comedy show is relevant to this election, then absolutely you writing an article, forget the bearded Marxist comment, you writing an article saying that you learned your beliefs from an articulate, intelligent Marxist professor and that's what made you become a Democrat, that should send chills up the spine of every Delaware voter because then if you compare that statement to your policies --
COONS: If it were accurate, if it were true, I'd agree. But it's not accurate. It's not true.
O'DONNELL: You said that on MSNBC just a few weeks ago. You said that on MSNBC.
