Christine O’Donnell will be at the podium at voter summit

Reporting from Washington —  Christine O’Donnell’s upset win in the Delaware Republican Senate primary has brought with it a major infusion of cash and now a featured role at this weekend’s Values Voter Summit in Washington.

FRC Action, which sponsors the annual gathering of social conservatives, announced the addition of O’Donnell to their schedule Thursday. It marks O’Donnell’s first major public event since her stunning victory over Rep. Mike Castle in Tuesday’s election.

Even as some Republicans have expressed doubts about her electability, O’Donnell has been embraced by many conservative activists in the days since her victory. An online fundraising drive has raised $1 million for her campaign — nearly four times the amount she had raised during her entire campaign.

Her Democratic opponent, New Castle County executive Chris Coons, had nearly $1 million cash on hand through Aug. 25. Although Democrats were boosted by O’Donnell’s win, sensing it might have given them an unexpected opportunity for victory in November, the party was not taking it for granted.

Vice President Joe Biden is expected to campaign with Coons in the state next week. Biden defeated O’Donnell to win his seventh Senate term representing Delaware in 2008, while also being elected vice president.

“This new Republican candidate’s going to have an awful lot of money. And these third-party operations that are going to probably spend more money in both parties in some states are going to be in there,” Biden said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday. “We’re going to take it very, very seriously.”

Establishment Republicans, meanwhile, have slowly come around to her campaign. Tom Ross, chairman of the Delaware Republican Party, who had been strongly critical of O’Donnell during her campaign against Castle, issued a statement Thursday saying that, “after a hard-fought primary” it was “time to come together and unite.”

But Castle himself has declined to endorse O’Donnell. His campaign had earlier e-mailed reporters a story critical of O’Donnell.

O’Donnell’s participation in Friday’s voter summit gives her a prominent platform to speak with likeminded conservatives just as scrutiny of her views grows.

Other speakers at the three-day gathering include prominent conservatives such as South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, talk-show host Sean Hannity and activist Phyllis Schlafly. A handful of potential 2012 presidential hopefuls also will address the group, including Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

One highlight of the weekend is a presidential straw poll of attendees. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and 2008 Iowa caucus winner, was the top choice among voters at the 2009 gathering.