[Spiff]

You proved the point. Can you point to a single case where "the party" supported a challenger to their existing incumbent? (I'm not puting the burden of proof on you, it's just that I can't think of any case where "the party" was motivated to do anything other than milquetoastify a candidate the longer he stays on.)

That was the point I was going to make. Republican incumbents of a liberal persuasion are often protected by the party against conservative challengers. I've seen it time and time again. I can't think of a SINGLE race where a conservative challenger has beaten an liberal Republican incumbent in the Primary Election. And I can think of several where the Republican Party provided overt and covert support to the liberal incumbent.

[ohioWfan]

Did you read my reply to that, Spiff?

The Ohio Republican party gave overt support to Jim Petro against Ken Blackwell, but the grassroots effort and public support gave Blackwell, a REAL conservative, the substantial victory.

It is incumbent on "we, the people" to get rid of the RINOS. If we will not do that, it is not the party to blame, but ourselves.