Probably no one is happier this morning than Democrats. They know that winning a primary is a whole lot different than winning in a general election. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine has compared the GOP to cannibals, saying that they are turning their energy and ferocity on each other.
According to the Huffington Post:
What we’re seeing in the Republican Party is that they invited the Tea Party in and it’s turning into the Donner Party, in some instances, because they’re turning the energy and the ferocity against each other,” said Kaine in response to a question by the Huffington Post, referring to the infamous group of 19th-century American pioneers who eventually had to turn to cannibalism to survive. He added that the divisions have given Democrats “some great opportunities in races that we wouldn’t have absent the Tea Party candidates.”
Perhaps the person to really watch is Karl Rove. Probably no one knows more about king-making than Karl Rove. Palin is a flash in the pan. Karl Rove knows how to do it for keeps and has built a career on doing just that. Karl Rove has spoken out against Christine O’Donnell and he is furious that Michael Castle has been ousted. Castle was expected to be the candidate who took back the Senate for the Republicans.
Rove to Sean Hannity, as reported in Politico:
“It does conservatives little good to support candidates who, … while they may be conservative in their public statements, do not evince the characteristics of rectitude and sincerity and character that the voters are looking for. … There’s just a lot of nutty things she’s been saying. … I’m for the Republican. But I gotta tell ya: We were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate [of the 10 needed for the majority]. We’re now looking at seven to eight, in my opinion. This is not a race we’re gonna be able to win.”
Division in the ranks can be a good thing or a bad thing. Division can redefine a party or it can divide and conquer, much like the Ross Perot movement did to catapult Bill Clinton in to the White House. Republicans need to decide if they want to try to usher in a new brand of arch conservatism or if they want to get rid of President Obama in 2012 and Democrats. I doubt if they can accomplish both missions under the same banner.
Some of these fire-brand uber-conservatives who are winning these primaries have won because it is easy to get out a special interest base in a primary. Joe Liebermann is living proof. He lost the primary because of his pro-Iraq war sentiments. The anti-war group came in and tossed him out. Liebermann, a main stream Democrat showed them. He ran as an Independent and retained his seat.
