Christine O'Donnell owes her FRC invitation to Karl Rove

Greetings from the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit, where Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is scheduled to speak later today. I ran into FRC head Tony Perkins a few minutes ago and asked him how O'Donnell came to be on the program.

"Karl Rove helped me do it," Perkins said.

"Huh?"

"Karl Rove helped me do it," Perkins repeated. "When I saw him attack her on the night of the election, I decided I wanted to have her come and speak."

Perkins says he was particularly interested in O'Donnell because the FRC was the first big national organization to endorse her. "That primarily was driven by her opponent," Perkins says, referring to Republican Rep. Mike Castle. "The establishment put such a bad candidate on the field, and she rallied conservatives."

"The reason those in the establishment are coming unhinged over her election is that their political models don't work in this cycle, when you factor in the tea parties," Perkins continues. "They can't figure that out, and it's causing them consternation." A brief pause. "And I want to increase their frustration."