Christine O’Donnell, the nation’s most well known “not a witch,” is mulling over a potential rematch against Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) in next year’s election, according to the Wilmington News Journal.

O’Donnell, who burst onto the national scene as the surprise Republican candidate in a 2010 special election to fill the senate seat of Vice President Joe Biden, is a perennial Republican candidate in Delaware, where Democrats control all but one statewide office and hold lopsided majorities in both houses of the state legislature. The popular term for Republican candidates such as O’Donnell is “cannon fodder.”

Thanks to support in the Tea Party stronghold of Sussex County O’Donnell was able to pull off a stunning primary upset win over popular former governor and congressman Mike Castle. Castle, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans, was considered a lock for the GOP nomination and the seat, but party officials were shocked by how strong Tea Party influence had become in the more conservative southern part of the state. Castle’s congressional voting record made him one of the most liberal Republicans in the House of Representatives during his tenure, and that had made him a target for southern Delaware’s conservatives. With the ascendency of the Tea Party those forces saw their chance, and thanks to typical low voter turnout for a primary they were able to place O’Donnell on the general election ballot against Coons. Castle won a narrow victory in his home area, the northern, urban New Castle County, but lost to O’Donnell by two to one margins in the state’s other two counties.

To understand the O’Donnell phenomenon you have to understand a little about Delaware and Delaware politics. Here’s a brief primer:

Delaware, the second smallest state in the nation, is in some ways a microcosm of the nation as a whole. As mentioned, Delaware only has three counties. the northernmost county, New Castle, is home to Wilmington, the state’s largest city. Delaware is thought of as a “blue” state thanks to Democratic control of almost all of the state government, but it is really New Castle County and Wilmington that keep the state blue.

Kent County, the middle of the three, contains Dover, the state capital, and Dover Air Force Base, famous for housing the mortuary where remains of American servicemen killed overseas are brought. Kent County over the years has been traditionally Democratic by a slim margin.

Sussex County is the state’s southernmost county, the largest in land area, and the most conservative. Sussex is filled with expanses of farmland, and on the eastern side contains Delaware’s beach resorts such as Rehoboth Beach, know as the “Nation’s Summer Capital” because of the Washington D.C. area tourists it attracts. Republican politics in Delaware are largely not controlled by the religious right or the Tea Party, except in Sussex, where the Tea Party reigns supreme, with the exception of the beach area. In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state senate by 13-8 and in the state house of representatives by 27-14, Sussex has only one Democratic senator out of four districts, and only two house members out of nine districts. (It is also worth noting that the one Democratic senator, Robert Venables, typically votes with Republicans, and one Democratic representative, John Atkins, is a former Republican who also still votes with the GOP on most issues.) Sussex is O’Donnell country.

Given the demographics involved it would seem logical for Christine O’Donnell to move to Sussex County and run for a county office or a seat in the legislature, which she would almost certainly win. But thanks to her Sarah Palin sized ego she keeps reaching for the higher offices and she keeps failing…miserably.

O’Donnell first appeared in Delaware politics in 2006, when she finished third out of three Republican candidates vying to oust Democratic senator Tom Carper. Undaunted, she was the Republican candidate for senate against now vice president Biden in 2008. (Delaware law allows a candidate to run for two federal offices simultaneously. He/she must resign from one if elected to both.) Biden crushed her, 65 percent to 35 percent. What happened in 2010 is related above. (Coons, who had never held statewide office in Delaware before and was originally considered a token candidate against Mike Castle, beat her by almost as lopsided a margin as Biden did, 56 percent to 40 percent.)

Now Republicans are on hold, waiting to see if O’Donnell is indeed going to run again. If she decides in favor of a rematch against Coons, look for this “not a witch’s” past to come back to haunt her. In addition to her denials of a history of witchcraft

Other Delaware Republicans are now waiting for diva O’Donnell to decide whether she will be throwing her non-pointed non-black hat into the ring before announcing their own bids. Given the sad, dysfunctional state of the Republican party in Delaware, O’Donnell is likely their best potential candidate. Delaware Democrats are certainly ok with that.

Lest we forget, here’s the video:

About.com has a great list of the top 10 craziest O’Donnell quotes.