O’Donnell cancels on two Sunday shows

Delaware Senate GOP candidate Christine O’Donnell canceled the second of her previously scheduled Sunday morning news show appearances.

O’Donnell had been scheduled to appear on “Fox News Sunday,” along with Republican strategist Karl Rove. Rove and O’Donnell had gone at each other over the week after the Tea Party favorite’s surprise win over Rep. Mike Castle (R) for the GOP nomination to run for Vice President Biden’s old Senate seat.

The Senate hopeful reportedly backed out of the program Friday night. Now, “Fox News Sunday” is featuring GOP Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, who won the Republican Senate nomination and now faces a write-in challenge from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), along with Rove.

O’Donnell had also been scheduled to appear on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” but canceled early Saturday. Host Bob Schieffer tweeted Saturday “Christine
O’Donnell just cancelled her appearance on tomorrow’s FTN…so
Republican Strategist Ed Rollins & WP’s Michael Gerson will be on.” Later, Schieffer tweeted a link to an Associated Press story that said O’Donnell cited conflicts including church events and a Republican picnic.

“Tomorrow the priorities are back in Delaware,” campaign spokeswoman Diana Banister said. “Those
are people who supported her, who were very helpful to her in the
campaign, and she feels obligated to be there and thank them.”

Banister said O’Donnell would appear on news shows in the future, adding, “We felt really bad.”

“I can’t remember when anybody has canceled on us on a Saturday, but
there’s always a first,” Schieffer later said, according to the AP. “If she can work it in sometime,
we’ll be happy to have her.”

The head of the conservative Family Research Council on Saturday said
that O’Donnell is better off campaigning in her state than making appearances
on national public affairs shows.

“If I were in her shoes
I would beat it back to Delaware and campaign,” Tony Perkins, the head
of the Family Research Council, said on Saturday. “She is not running
for president or vice president. She is running for U.S. Senate in
Delaware.”

O’Donnell addressed conservative activists at the annual Values Voters Summit in Washington on Friday.

“She
came here because there had been a lot said about her in the national
media and she had become a national figure,” Perkins said Saturday. 
“That only works so far in a state-wide election. I would have done the
same thing if I had been in her shoes.”