GOP split runs through the heartland, endangering election prospects

[babylonsister]

GOP split runs through the heartland, endangering election prospects

Published: October 31, 2013 Updated 3 hours ago
By David Lightman — McClatchy Washington Bureau


URBANDALE, Iowa — The bitter divide among Republicans over an ill-fated budget fight that shuttered parts of the government reaches far beyond the Congress and Washington, deep into the heartland and smack into the Machine Shed restaurant.

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The pragmatists see electoral as well as policy disasters. The more candidates are viewed as ideologically extreme, the less likely they are to win general election _ just look, they say, at how tea party favorite Ken Cuccinelli is far behind in what should be a winnable Republican race for governor of Virginia. And the more Republicans are not willing to give in, the less Democrats will need to seek their support, lessening the chance of much compromise.

The purists argue theirs is a mission that may not yield immediate success but will someday lead to dramatically smaller, more responsive government and candidates unafraid to tout strong moral values.

snip//

Would-be candidates already are finding a Republican organization split between tea party activists and libertarians dueling with more establishment leaders, as in much of the rest of America.

Incumbent Republican senators face nomination challenges from the right in several states, notably Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, Lamar Alexander in Tennessee, Lindsey Graham in South Carolina and Pat Roberts in Kansas. In 2010 and 2012, some of the insurgents won primaries but found it hard to escape the extremist label. That allowed otherwise underdog Democrats to get elected.

Fading quickly is the party’s once-promising bid to pick up a net of six Senate seats needed for a majority. Last week, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, moved two key races, North Carolina and Louisiana, from the “Tossup” to the “Lean Democratic” column.

“The shutdown kerfuffle has led to a significant improvement in the national political climate for Democrats,” he wrote.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/10/31/206974/gop-split-runs-from-washington.html

[LuvNewcastle]

1. I hope they're still fighting a year from now.

[Victor_c3]

6. I believe that they will

The die-hard right people are just that. They aren't going away and they aren't going to quiet down. So long as even a smallish faction is blabbing away and obviously hindering government function, the democrats will fare well in 2014 and 2016.

[Z_California]

2. Republicans have learned

that people want them to govern and legislate and stuff.

[beachbum bob]

3. with nutcases like Cruz and cowards like rubio and rand paul

the GOP will continue to splinter and will never threaten presidential elections and will end up being just a regional party of angry old white males. Prospects of GOP taking the senate majority is 99.5% NEVER.

Anger works for so long and the GOP has run out of members willing to sign on to it.....and the fact they have not learned anything from 2012 election debacle. Piss off women, blacks, hispanics will assure everytime.

gotta say I rather enjoy watching their self-destruction

[Botany]

4. The republican party continues to kill off it's chances w/ women

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023954470 fox news = GOP lady bits cost $$$$$$

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014634905 Oklahoma passes unconstitutional law banning abortions

[Marr]

5. The Teabagger faction will disappear as soon as we no longer have a black president.

That's my prediction.