A leading Tea Party candidate in Delaware claims she is getting support from an unexpected group.

Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell seems to believe that supporters of Hillary Clinton are now backing her.

“I’m excited that the Tea Party has gotten behind us,” O’Donnell told Fox News host Martha MacCallum Monday. “But I do want to point out that we have broad-based support.”

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“We’ve got a lot of Hillary Democrats working behind us — with us — because they’re frustrated with what this administration is doing,” she said.

A new survey shows O’Donnell enjoying a three point advantage over Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE). Delaware Republicans go to the polls Tuesday to make their choice.

But “Hillary Democrats” may not be useful to O’Donnell in that primary. “She didn’t say if she’s gotten those Democrats to actually switch parties, since the primary tomorrow is closed and you must be a Republican to take part,” noted Talking Points Memo.

Dirty tricks by Tea Party groups may prove to be more of an asset to O’Donnell. The Hill reported that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — who was defeated with help from the Tea Party Express — called Castle to tell him she learned from experience to “be careful” of the activist group.

“She told me to be careful, because [The Tea Party Express] will come at me with everything they’ve got,” Castle recounted. “They’re certainly not above misrepresentation.” Castle said while he took Murkowski’s warning to heart, he was already taking the primary challenge from O’Donnell seriously. “We understand what we’re up against and we’re not taking this lightly,” Castle said, bemoaning the involvement of the Tea Party Express. “This is the first election I can remember in Delaware where a campaign is being funded almost entirely by out of state interests.”

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The chair of the Delaware Republican Party received a death threat last week over his support for Castle.

This video is from Fox News’ America’s Newsroom, broadcast Sept. 13, 2010.



