"Are Republicans Already Blowing the Next Election?"

[applegrove]

Are Republicans Already Blowing the Next Election?

by John B. Judis at the New Republic

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/110648/are-republicans-already-blowing-the-next-election

"SNIP................................................

There is no clear center of power in Republican Party (or, for that matter, the Democratic Party). Primaries are determined by a fairly narrow field of voters – only 15 percent of registered voters, for example, participated this year in Indiana’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary. Candidates depend not only on their personal and political appeal, but also on grassroots support and, of course, money.

That’s where organizations like the Club for Growth come in. Unlike the Republican National Committee or the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Club’s objective is not simply to elect Republicans, but to elect what Chocola calls “true champions of economic freedom.” To do that, the Club is willing to intervene in Republican primaries, even against incumbents. And in the wake of Citizens United, it is able to raise and spend unlimited funds to do so.

A politician’s worse fear is being “primaried.” The Club’s early support can inspire a primary challenger. Its opposition – or merely the possibility of its opposition -- can frighten an incumbent or challenger into taking a more conservative stance. When the Club announces that it is putting a vote on its annual “scorecard” of who is truly conservative, Republicans have been known to change their position overnight, as happened last year with a China currency bill that the Club opposed. Last August, all seven Senators that the Club had backed in 2010 followed the Club’s lead and opposed the much-needed debt ceiling agreement.

In the early 2000s, the Club largely acted alone in primaries, but recently, it has become part of an informal network of hyper-conservative PACs, political groups, talk show hosts and bloggers that have sought to oust Republicans who they believe are not true conservatives. This network includes Senator Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, the Madison Project, various local and national Tea Party organizations, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Erick Erickson’s RedState.

.......................................................SNIP"

[JeffHead]

1. They're trying like hell and I wish them well...

Please proceed Republicans.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Maybe the DCCC should be donating to the Club for Growth.

Better idea than some of the things they've done with their money.

[applegrove]

8. LOL!

[applegrove]

3. "Please proceed, governor "never gets old.

[oldhippydude]

4. please..

send us a bunch of Todd Akins, and Christine O'Donnels

[larwdem]

5. no

their like cockroaches you cant get rid of them! I HOPE I'M WRONG.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

6. The problem is that so many of them represent very safe, conservative districts,

thanks to redistricting. So, no. They are not blowing the next election because their constituents want this shit.

[Historic NY]

7. lets encourage them

[joeunderdog]

9. There's not enough lipstick for their pig.

Instead of changing their platform, they anguish about who is to blame for not disguising, selling or bullshitting it enough to ram it down voters throats. People finally see it for what it is and that isn't going to change. They need to change and they clearly haven't gotten the message. In fact, they're so narcissistic, they don't even have a clue.

So keep applying the lipstick, assholes.

[applegrove]

10. +100