Castle is IN!!!

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Excellent!  I'm looking forward to a fantastic race.

Beau Biden hasn't officially declared yet, has he?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I'm dare to say that Joe is much more powerful in Delaware than Castle

But notably, Castle is much more powerful in Delaware than Babybiden.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

well, that sucks. And Delaware voters will probably be stupid enough to vote for him, thinking he's a "moderate", despite the fact that he'll vote to make far-right Republicans heads of the various Senate committees.

So by this logic there hasn't been a "moderate" of either party in the Senate for decades.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

They can be moderate, it's just that their moderation doesn't do very much when, for example, they vote for Jim Inhofe to chair the Environment and Public Works Committee or Jeff Sessions to chair the Judiciary Committee or Mitch McConnell to decide which bills and amendments are voted on. I don't deny that Castle might vote with Democrats on a couple of bills (though I doubt he'd support cap and trade or robust health care reform), but just because he's a moderate doesn't mean that he's not making some very, very conservative elements, elements that the voters in Delaware do not want running the country, more powerful.

The difference between McConnell getting 42 organizational votes and 41 organizational votes is pretty much negligible. Does anyone seriously think Castle will be around in the Senate long enough to see Republicans retake the body?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Biden might be getting cold feet:

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/10/07/will_biden_run.html

I figured this might happen.  It's hard to put a lot of effort into a race you're not favored to win when the opportunity will re-present itself shortly after.

Besides, Castle and Biden Sr. have always had good relations.  There may not be as much resistance as you think to the idea of just letting Castle have his four-year reward before retiring.

The only risk, of course, is having Carney vault into the race from his House seat.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Biden in a way is very much like Joe Sestak, a low key, pro homeland security guy.  But when it comes to passage of key initiatives, like health care reform or national security issues he is very much a fighter and will fight with the democratic caucus to pass the things he care about. The races are very similar, trying to oust 70+ year olds that will only stay in the seats for short time periods.

It's often hard for me to pass up the opportunity to vote for a Republican moderate (though the increasingly self-serving Specter and the borderline-idiot Linc Chafee are two good exceptions), so take this with a grain of salt, but my general impression of Castle is that he is an incredibly influential moderate voice of the house, perhaps more so than most Republicans outside of leadership.  He's a down-right intelligent guy, and based on his record in the House, he'll probably do more for Delaware in the minority than Babybiden will in the majority.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

They can be moderate, it's just that their moderation doesn't do very much when, for example, they vote for Jim Inhofe to chair the Environment and Public Works Committee or Jeff Sessions to chair the Judiciary Committee or Mitch McConnell to decide which bills and amendments are voted on. I don't deny that Castle might vote with Democrats on a couple of bills (though I doubt he'd support cap and trade or robust health care reform), but just because he's a moderate doesn't mean that he's not making some very, very conservative elements, elements that the voters in Delaware do not want running the country, more powerful.

The difference between McConnell getting 42 organizational votes and 41 organizational votes is pretty much negligible. Does anyone seriously think Castle will be around in the Senate long enough to see Republicans retake the body?

But the difference between 40 and 41 votes is huge.

Question: When was the last 60–40 straight party line vote in the Senate?  Has there been one yet?  Will there ever be one?

A filibuster-proof 60 is a feel-good number that makes your brain all warm and fuzzy, but it's pretty much meaningless when you start looking at the Senate in real-world terms.