Christine O’Donnell Blacklists National Media

Tea Party-backed Republican candidate for Senate says she’ll only do local interviews

Oh, Christine, we'll miss you.

Christine O’Donnell — the Tea Party-backed winner of last week’s Delaware Republican Senate primary and admitted witchcraft-dabbler — told Sean Hannity on Tuesday that she is not going to do any more national media.

“Delaware is my focus and the local media is my focus,” O'Donnell said on Hannity's Fox News show.

Hannity pointed out that the national media blackout was a recommendation for her from Sarah Palin — who was put under similar scrutiny during her vice presidential campaign. O'Donnell said that was exactly what she had planned.

This development is, quite frankly, a huge blow for the national media.

According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, coverage of O’Donnell’s surprise win “filled 30 percent of the newshole during the week of September 13-19.”

"It's frustrating because I've let the local media know they're my priority but our phones are ringing off the hook, that they can't get to me," O'Donnell said. "So it's actually become an interference with the campaign."

Later, she added: "It's not fun because, you know, like today there was a news crew filming my father raking leaves."

As far as the witchcraft business, O’Donnell called it “teenage rebellion.”

“You know?” O’Donnell said in response to a video of a 1999 appearance on Bill Maher’s show, unearthed last week by the comedian. “Some people dabble in drugs to rebel, that's how I rebelled. You know? But who didn't do some questionable things in high school and who doesn't regret the ‘80s to some extent?  I certainly do. And I most certainly regret bringing it up to Bill Maher.”

And how did Hannity land what could be ostensibly O’Donnell’s last national interview? Last week, Hannity defended her in an election night interview with Karl Rove, who said: “I’ve met her. I’ve gotta tell you, I wasn’t, frankly, impressed [by] her abilities as a candidate.”

Hannity responded: “This is probably one of the few times we’re going to disagree here, because I’ve met her, I’ve interviewed here a lot over the years, I’ve found her quite impressive, and more importantly, she is a solid conservative.”

As PEJ notes, Rove “changed his tack and evinced support for O’Donnell” a few days after criticism by some prominent conservatives, including Palin and Rush Limbaugh.

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