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Despite their reputation for unity, Republicans are increasingly finding deep schisms within their ranks. GOP policymakers and their allies are fighting amongst themselves on everything from immigration to gun safety, fiscal strategies to defense.
But just below the surface, perhaps the most striking disagreement relates entirely to electoral considerations.
In public, Republicans insist their biggest problem is rhetorical -- they need to identify a better way to sell their ideas to voters. In private, Republicans focus more on their primary problem -- GOP leaders are convinced that the party would be in far better shape right now were it not for rank-and-file Republican voters nominating unelectable loons in so many key races.
It's a problem the party establishment is desperate to fix. Indeed, in the wake of their 2012 defeats, Republicans have taken some steps to strengthen the party establishment and prevent fiascoes like the ones the GOP has seen in Delaware, Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, and elsewhere.
But it's easier said than done. Indeed, party leaders seem to believe earlier endorsements from the GOP establishment might send unmistakable signals to the base and would-be challengers, but that misses the point -- the Republican base doesn't much care whom the establishment prefers. If the party's heavyweight players are going to make a real difference in crushing extremist clowns before they win primaries, it's going to cost a lot of money
Enter Karl Rove's operation to the rescue.
The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party's efforts to win control of the Senate.
The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.
The Conservative Victory Project is the latest effort from Rove, and will exist as an appendage of sorts to the American Crossroads super PAC.
Its efforts will not go unchallenged.
Roll Call reported over the weekend that the Senate Conservatives Fund, founded by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R), is already condemning Rove's new project.
"This is a continuation of the establishment's effort to avoid blame for their horrible performance in the 2012 elections," Senate Conservatives Fund Executive Director Matt Hoskins said. "They blew a ton of races up and down the ticket because they recruited moderate Republicans who didn't stand for anything. Now they want to use this new PAC to trick donors into giving them more money so they can lose more races."
Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller echoed the sentiment: "They are welcome to support the likes of Arlen Specter, Charlie Crist and David Dewhurst. We will continue to proudly support the likes of Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz."
Hoskins and Keller have a point. On the other hand, so does Rove. In fact, the great irony of this fight is that neither side of the Republican divide has any credibility at all.
Rove's American Crossroads raised breathtaking amounts of money in 2012, promising right-wing donors an impressive return on investment, and proceeded to lose nearly every race Rove targeted. Right-wing groups, meanwhile, weren't much better, and helped nominate ridiculous candidates that led to Democratic victories.
Rove and his allies argue, "Listen to us or we'll be stuck with another bunch of candidates like Akin, Mourdock, O'Donnell, and Angle." Simultaneously, the Club for Growth and its allies argue, "Listen to us or we'll be stuck with Karl Rove's 99% failure rate."
The opportunity for a round of bitter proxy fights will materialize very soon: Steve King in Iowa, Paul Broun in Georgia, and Joe Miller in Alaska are each poised to launch right-wing Senate bids, and by most measures, these candidates are so far from the mainstream they're very likely to fail -- after winning their respective primaries.
The Conservative Victory Project will likely try to take them down during their respective primaries, and even-further-right-wing groups will push in the opposite direction.
It won't be pretty, but Democrats will love every minute of it.
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This is going to be fun . I mean REALLY fun.
I will be curious to see how Faux the leading source of crazy frames it
It's the collision between those who teach politics as the proper use of makeup versus those politics as Harold Hills who teach the malleable to march in straight lines- appealing to the best in people while lining their own pockets.
The result of the confluence in 2010-2012 was a parade of clowns.
If Koch 2.0 is effective, 2014 will be different.
Ah, but it is a sham! Rove and DeMint are not fighting each other. It is just a ploy to make people believe there is division in the Koch-Rove Republican Party. The "mainstream Republicans" that Rove will be defending are people like Scott in Florida. They don't want any primaries against their T.E.A. incumbents. Above all, do not trust Karl Rove. Be suspicious of his strategy. It is evidently part of the the 2013-2014 wedge and win campaign.
Trust Rove at the country's peril!
The more they fight among themselves, the weaker their party becomes. Let the games begin!!! LOL!
Rove and Company barely lost key swing states and thus lost the Presidency to Obama, but they still managed to have 30 Republican governors and 25 state legislatures that have both houses with Republican majorities. I wouldn't call that failure.
Jimes, to remain a nationally viable party, they have to make CHANGES. Not just changing the rhetoric, but real changes. They are not prepared to do that, and frankly don't believe that they have to. They (Rove, et.al.) have their heads in the sand.
It's like watching the black widow eat her mate.
Only you might feel sorry for the poor mate who's being eaten. I don't feel at all sorry for any of these jerks who might get eaten.
The Right has spent the last 3 decades beating any sense of moderation out of it's party. Now they realize that that leaves them with a smaller pool of voters.
2012 showed that the GOP is becoming isolated. By the time 2016 rolls around, moderate Republican = Democrat.
It is true that the right has had a carefully constructed campaign to gain control of the government. But it is not true that they have a smaller pool of voters or that they are becoming isolated. The successful passage of "stand your ground" gun legislation in nearly half the states, of anti-immigation in many states, of anti-abortion laws in state after state, all demonstrate that the "right extremists" have not been isolated.
I had my views of what was happening on the right changed completely by the results of the 2010 elections. I live in a county that has a strong Democratic tradition and I thought other parts of the state were also Democratic. I was shocked when the Republicans gained 60 seats in a 100 member house and elected a T.E.A. governor. In 2010, state after state went solidly T.E.A. Republican.
I will never again underestimate the political prowess of the Kochs and Karl Rove and company. Anyone who does, risks a repeat of the 2010 elections and even a repeat of what they accomplished in the 2012 elections.
Work hard to make sure that 2013 and 2014 elections go Democrartic.
Another money making opportunity for Mr. Rove.
Rove's "a conservative fool and his money are soon parted" strikes again.
And he was so successful with his blustering methods last election: NOT!
It is so special (I mean the relationship that Rove has with these rich white guys). He throws out plans that he must makeup while occupied in the restroom. He finds gullible, wealthy elders of the GOP to pitch his methods to and they fund it. AMAZING.
I'm a wackadoodle dandy!
A wackadoodle do and cry!
A real live nephew of my uncle Jefferson Davis,
Weren't born on no g*d damn 4th of July.
Stupid is as stupid does, ex-senator Demented says.
Who needs any f*cking credibility when they have Faux News?
ah, reality! when the light goes on for the typical pickup driving, nra card carrying, bible thumping, immigrant hating redneck, and he realizes that his interests, financial and otherwise, don't run in the same circles as those of the kochs, petersons, willards, and dubya's of the world.
Sorry, those morons have that kind of stupidity in their DNA now, they've been serving as Ol' Massa's cannon fodder for 300 years now.
The only difference I can really see between conservative 'seasoned candidates' and conservative 'unelectable loons' is that the 'seasoned candidates' know how to keep their mouths shut until they're actually elected and in a position to do some real damage.
Yep. And this is true, incidentally, of pretty much all the calls for, as Steve B puts it, better rhetoric on the part of Republican candidates. They don't want them to change any of their positions. They just want them to lie, obfuscate, and cover their true beliefs more effectively during the election.
But then, after the goper is elected, the real split in the Republican coalition is observable. The money establishment types just want them to pass lower taxes and get rid of any semblance of regulation; but the true believers of the base who are increasingly responsible for putting all gopers in office, want them to act on all the culture war invectives and delusions.
Increasing numbers of the base are tired of being played for patsies decade after decade. All the tools on the intertubular let them commiserate. And organize.
This will be interesting.
I'm going to need more popcorn from the store !
It is a shame that none of the money raised by Rove goes to do good for the general public.
We need a Rove tax where 15% goes to the less fortunate.
"good for the general public"
a lot of regular folks are employed printing yard signs, making TV commercials, and working the phones.
Let Rove fleece his own out of money that would never be directed toward the public good. Seems fitting.
No kidding, bkmnus! It really steams me to think of all the money that was raised and spent on the recent election, much of it going to thieves like Dick Morris. Wasn't it something like a billion each for Obama and Romney? And then all the congressional races and state/local races?
I have to admit that I even get miffed when I get deluged with donation solicitations from liberal causes, which continued right through the election without taking a breath, BTW. In many cases they're for senators in other states. It shouldn't be that I have to spend money to get my favored candidate elected. When did that become the new normal?
And I thought he told the IRS his 501s were not political, that they were primarily educational?
Having totally blown the last election, Grifter Karl needs to find a new way to separate his marks from their money. This seems to be the best plan he can think of. It might work. He will be able to raise hundreds of millions from his rich donor marks, and will waste it trying to take out the tea party darlings before they win primaries. If he succeeds the Republicans will lose their evangelical base (or at least its active support.) If, as I think is more likly, he fails, the tea party worthies will have to make do with less money and the votes of economic conservatives in general elctions.
For Democrats this is all good. If they pay attention the next two years, Democrats might produce a second miracle in a row.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
“I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (all three)
Ya'd think ol' Karl, Dick Armey and the rest of dem Republican elections junta would-a thunk of a few of ol'Mary's insightful ditties when re-animating the Birch Society into the Tea Party a few years back!
Now, their being hunted down by the monster they created! -Kevo
Nice work, kevo!
The rich bastard con job of trying to portray that they are really so sweet and nice so trust us so we can continue to screw you over. Carnege also liked to portray he was such a nice and sweet man than hired a thug to do his dirty work in the steel mills. That very thug who ran the steel mill had the very approval of Carnege to do the dirty work of screwing people (workers) even to the point of murdering those workers. So what happened, when these murders happened Carnege went to hide in a foreign land trying to escape answering those questions that he himself set up to have done. Carnege wanted that fancy nice false image of being nice and sweet, but in reality was one of the biggest criminals around, since all he really wanted was increased profits at the very cost of anybody or anything that got in his way. So if you think these Super bowl game TV Ads were just sweet and cute, guess again because the rich bastards and Republican con job is being very active at deceiving the American people into lies again.
The correct way to frame this is talk radio vs non-talk radio. Either you support the purity that the talk radio crowd espouses, or you are more pragmatic. Until the right wing fixes the problem of unelected entertainers calling the shots, they will remain a regional force in the deep south with sprinkes everywhere else.
And the best part will be both sides trying to avoid doing more damage to the brand. Presumably by using codewords like "real conservative!" I remember a few years back when McCain had a primary challenge. If the Democrats had actually had a candidate like Carmona to field against him after the primary bloodletting (he spend most of his campaign money in the primary, since he was running effectively unopposed in the general) Arizona might have actually had a Democratic Senator again.
and of course as always the two sides will agree on only one thing "IT"S ALL OBAMA"S FAULT!"
The thing we must remember is that the typical tea bagger won't vote for a Democrat (especially one who is the "wrong" color or gender), under any circumstances. Ironically, the wackadoodle wing nuts are in exactly the same predicament as the gays. Democrats don't really have to worry about losing the gay vote, even if they don't bother to get around to doing anything about DOMA for the next twenty years. We'll still keep voting for them no matter how much we're ignored/used/abused because it's not as though there's any alternative. And Turd Blossom knows that. There's nothing for them to lose.
The alternative is just staying home, which a *lot* of Republicans did in the 2012 election; the turnout for Republicans was much lower than it had been in 2008. While the typical bagger won't ever vote for a Democrat, the chance that he'll just stay home and not vote at all isn't zero.
That's true. Or maybe the lines at the polls were just too damn long (ahem) and they didn't want to miss the latest episode of Honey boo boo so they went home.
This is a perfect example of Authoritarian behaviour, textbook even. Authoritarian personalities have an incredible lack of self-reflection, combined with a need for convention and fear of ambiguity, that renders them incapable of any adult, rational thought or decision making.
They cannot conceive of the notion that it is their policy that makes them unpopular, that their contradictory rhetoric is obvious to everyone, but their followers. That phenom has been labeled the RWA/SDO embrace, the strange, almost hypnotic relation between Authoritarian leaders and their sycophantic followers.
http://www.truth-out.org/right-wing-id-unzipped/1329147417
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
It's so rare to have the opportunity to create a new catch phrase that I feel honored, but let's not get ahead of ourselves..
So the mainstream GOP is effectively going against the Tea Party candidates. The question remains what will the outcome be? I know what I think they'll do, I'm just was trying to figure out what to call it.... How about 'Tea Terrorist'?
Catchy?
Funny?
Not for long I fear.
As the Tea Party becomes more and more aware of how isolated their message is and how futile their effort to popularize their brand of extremism has become, I don't think they'll explode, mostly because I think they feel they have God on their side. And, although in and of itself there's nothing wrong with feeling God is on ones side, it is clearly first step 1 of becoming a terrorist, to feel that your cause is ordained by God....
So Like I said 'Tea Terrorist'.
Just give it a little time to steep and we'll have a problem of a whole new flavor.
YES!! It's the heavyweight matchup you've been waiting for!!!! Karl Rove's Crossroads money vs. Jim Demint Heritage money fighting for the soul of the republican party!!!
LET'S GET READY TO RRRRRRRRUMBLE!!!
Be careful: remember that the GOP were in a complete shambles after the 2008 election and yet had a very large win in 2010 by scaring people and spewing hate. I realize that they have now gone way to far on that idea (i personally thought they had gone too far in 2010 ) but never underestimate the power of hate.
Word to that.
I agree that cranking the hate to 12 is very likely -- but I'm not at all sure it'll get an increase in return. Not that that in itself bothers me, mind.
A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim. -- George Santayana
It's really sad to see the Republicans go under. We need opinions from different people to keep moving forward, we don't always have to agree, but if the opposing party is sane and has a point of view than it's keeps everyone on their toes. When the opposing party is crazy and disturbed and only believes that what he or she is saying is the gospel than we have issues (Republican Party).
i do agree... luckily there is still SOME diversity within the dems.. but there is a movement to "purify" which will make us end up just about like them..
The party establishment knows all the rhetoric they've tossed around for 40 years for the anti-libs, anti-tax, anti everything has been lies meant to get votes and help destroy social safety net, the base believed them and saw them go to the capital and act semi reasoned compared to the rhetoric and the establishment now is suffering that backlash. They can admit that they were full of @!$%# for 40 years and really just want social security & medicare destroyed... or be destroyed trying to keep the lie up. Couldn't happen to a more deserving lot.
Rove is challenging the very base that assures the party reliable votes and districts. It's really risky challenging your very lifeblood on their turf. When you try to rig the grass roots, it bound to have unpredictable consequences. This top down approach hasn't worked in Trickle Down Economics and it's could have even more dire results politically.
The GOP, that claims to be christians, ignore this simple christian principle....."you shall reap what you sow".....they created the country's divisive politics, the tea party, the right wing fringe that are more destructive to our democracy than constructive and now they are attempting to put the crazy genie back in the bottle......impossible. They have created an illogical, dumbed down, non thinking base that embrace their alternate universe of democratic principles while at the same time supporting only their true base, the wealthy. Since the wealthy are few in number but finance their con game, they depend on their dumbed down, radical and hateful cult-like base to deliver votes at their own expense. I have said many times, a negative agenda will never produce a positive result......that is a fact, which they fail to comprehend or consider!