WaPo: Will GOP Overreach on IRS?

Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan blogging in today’s paper:

By the end of the week, there will have been six hearings in the House or Senate regarding the IRS’s scandal, which leads to the question: How many is too many?

“My suspicion is Republicans in Congress will stay too obsessed,” former White House senior adviser David Plouffe predicted in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” program Sunday. “Kind of surfing scandals, trying to repeal Obamacare for the 40th time, and less on the economy, and doing the job they were sent [to do].”

Karl Rove, the chief political strategist for George W. Bush’s presidency, acknowledged that he worries “a little bit” about the possibility of overreach, particularly if his party loses sight of the need to offer its own vision on the economy.

Then there’s the equally-helpful Caitlin Huey-Burns for RCP:

With the field starting to take shape for the 2014 midterm elections, Republicans hope to increase their numbers in Congress. If party leaders have their way, controversy over the IRS targeting of conservative groups and the DOJ’s subpoena of reporters’ records (mixed with the lingering specter of the Benghazi consulate attacks) will consume much of the summer, with the scandals driving a wedge between voters and the president’s party.

That could happen. What also could occur is that the GOP’s zeal could backfire by galvanizing the Democratic base to defend a man they see as being hounded by an obstructionist Republican Party.

These “Quit while your ahead!” stories always come out just when the scandals start to get seriously juicy.

Go get ’em, Darrell.