In campaign news, the comedian Bill Maher is threatening to continue to release archival footage of Republican senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware until she agrees to appear on his HBO program. During the 1990s O’Donnell was a regular on Maher’s show Politically Incorrect. Maher recently rehashed a clip of O’Donnell from 1999 when she admitted that she had dabbled in witchcraft.

Bill Maher: “You were a witch?”

Christine O’Donnell: “I dabbled into witchcraft. I never joined a coven. But I did —- I did -—”

Jamie Kennedy: “Wait a minute, you were a witch?”

Bill Maher: “Yes, she was a witch.”

Christine O’Donnell: “I was a witch. Wait, but that’s exactly why” —

Jamie Kennedy: “I mean, wait a minute. How did you used to be a witch?”

Christine O’Donnell: “Because I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I’m not making this stuff up! I know what they told me they do! I mean, and one of my dates, one of my dates, my first dates — one of my first dates with a witch was on a Satanic altar, and I didn’t know it. And I mean, there was a little blood there and stuff like that.”

Bill Maher: “That was a date?”

Jamie Kennedy: “Your first date was a Satanic altar?”

Christine O’Donnell: “Yeah, yeah. We went to a movie and then, like, had a little midnight picnic on a Satanic altar.”

Christine O’Donnell is now a tea party favorite who is trying to secure the conservative and religious vote in Delaware. Her witch comments have created such a stir that she decided to address the controversy in her first campaign TV ad released on Monday.

Christine O’Donnell: “I am not a witch. I’m nothing you’ve heard. I’m you. None of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us: politicians who think spending, trading favors and back-room deals are the ways to stay in office. I’ll go to Washington and do what you’d do. I’m Christine O’Donnell, and I approve this message. I’m you.”