Well, I didn't expect this kind of story until after the Teabaggers lost many easy pick-up seats, but it seems the Civil War in the GOP is about to begin.
Murkowski's surprise defeat may be just an early skirmish in this battle.
A Republican civil war is raging, with righter-than-thou conservatives dominating ever more primaries in a fight for the party's soul. And the Democrats hope to benefit.
The latest examples of conservative insurgents' clout came Tuesday at opposite ends of the country. In Florida, political newcomer Rick Scott beat longtime congressman and state Attorney General Bill McCollum for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. And in Alaska, tea party activists and Sarah Palin pushed Sen. Lisa Murkowski to the brink of defeat, depending on absentee ballot counts in her race against outsider Joe Miller.
AP
The old school GOP must be quaking in their shoes that the Murdoch-Armey wing is poised for a takeover of the Grand Old Party.
The place this will get most messy for Republicans is not in the Deep Red states but in the swing states. Take Florida for an example.
A Meek-Rubio split on Nov. 2 could lead to a Crist win the Senate seat as an independent, and he may caucus with Democrats. Is that what the GOP really wants?
Check out how the Tea Party coup is unfolding at the state level.
Michigan tea party supporters flocked to Republican party meetings across the state this month and won several hundred delegate seats for the Saturday state convention, including Weiser's. Now, the activists are positioned for an attempt to push the Michigan GOP further to the right and put hard-core conservatives on November's general election ballot.
The tea party's bid to capitalize on its delegate coup, which caught veteran Republican activists by surprise, is an important test for a national movement seeking concrete political impact after many of its favored candidates lost in GOP primaries this summer. The movement's most recent loss came Tuesday, when former Rep. J.D. Hayworth lost to Sen. John McCain in Arizona.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The coming GOP Nervous Breakdown will be fascinating to watch.
The question hanging out there is whether the old school GOP will step in and tell the Tea Party insurgents to get lost. Or whether the Tea Bagger energy is too attractive to ignore, even if their candidates are "crazy."
Republicans think "crazy" is ignoring Tea Party energy. In fact, 3.5 million more Republicans have voted in primaries this year than Democrats - a flip from 2006 when Dems swept to power.
National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh argued it "comes down to which side has the energy and enthusiasm, and by any measure it's the Republicans."
Rollins suggested Democrats need a reality check. "The Republican establishment may have gotten beaten up a little bit, but these candidates can win," he said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
Thankfully, folks like Joe Biden have found their voice on this topic.
That's "the Republican tea party" that's "offering more of the past but on steroids" and is "out of step with where the American people are," Vice President Joe Biden told the party's rank and file last week.
GOP = Tea Party.
Say it loud, and often.
UPDATE: Here's an interesting pissing match breaking out.
Is the GOP trying to distance themselves from the Glenn Beck/Tea Party rally?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...