Well, first of all I am not sure what all the hoopla is about this anyway. The district is a conservative one and hasn’t elected a Democratic representative since the 1800s. This district electing a liberal would be a little like Nancy Pelosi’s district electing a moderate. This isn’t news. What is news is the party infighting in the GOP. Do they plan on doing this in every district where the candidate doesn’t regurgitate the party line as they see fit? That is a recipe for failure because many districts are indeed moderate and DO have a history of going back and forth with regard to party. Just as Democrats run moderate candidates to win in more conservative districts Republicans need to run more moderate to win in more liberal districts.
While the very conservative, out of the mainstream base, may be emboldened by forcing out a moderate, it is hard to see how this strategy will work on a national level. The message they have sent is clear: moderates are not welcome in the GOP and differing opinions are not tolerated. This may play well with Teabaggers but it won’t play well with main street America.
