Posted on 02/18/2014 1:03:41 PM PST by cotton1706
Two weeks from today, the first of at least six Republican primaries featuring establishment Senate incumbents versus Tea Party challengers will take place in Texas, with Sen. John Cornyn taking on Rep. Steve Stockman (plus a host of other GOPers). And the storyline we’ll be watching is the same one from 2010 and 2012: It’s hard for the GOP to win back the Senate when its best candidates can’t win their primaries. Indeed, Republicans might already control the Senate today or would have an all-but-certain prospect come Nov. 2014 had Ken Buck (Colorado), Christine O’Donnell (Delaware), Sharron Angle (Nevada), Todd Akin (Missouri), and Richard Mourdock (Indiana) NOT won their primaries in the last two Senate cycles. So Republicans’ chances of winning back the Senate in 2014 could go up or down depending how these primaries turn out.
The good news for the GOP
These races aren’t taking place in blue or purple states: The good news for Republicans this cycle is that these intra-party fights are taking place in safe (or at least GOP-leaning) states, so the winner might not affect the general election everywhere -- with the key exceptions of Georgia and Kentucky. Democrats are still recruiting in Kansas and Mississippi in search of another Joe Donnelly. Here are the primaries we’ll be watching, including one other key open Senate seat:
•Sen. John Cornyn vs. Steve Stockman in Texas (March 4)
•Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vs. Matt Bevin in Kentucky (May 20)
•Crowded GOP primary in Georgia to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss (May 20) --
Sen. Thad Cochran vs. Chris McDaniel in Mississippi (June 3)
Sen. Lindsey Graham vs. a crowded field in South Carolina (June 10)
Sen. Pat Roberts vs. Milton Wolf in Kansas (Aug. 5)
Sen. Lamar Alexander vs. Joe Carr in Tennessee (Aug. 7)
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
“How ‘bout all the RINO nominees that the liberal media said were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO electable that lost in the past cycles ? Whut ? That doesn’t fit the media narrative ?
Besides, why would the media care if we put up “TEA Party Extremists” if they’re so sure to lose ? It’s because they’re worried they’ll win.”
That’s exactly right. They worked very hard to prevent Jim DeMint from winning his primary against an establishment candidate. And DeMint begat Cruz and Lee and Paul. And Cruz alone has killed gun control, the House blame him for killing Amnesty (we’ll see on that one), he shined a light on the moderates regarding Obamacare and the debt ceiling. Should more like Cruz get elected, they are very, very afraid that the liberal gravy train will come to an abrupt end. And who knows what Mike Lee is working on. He’s a mental powerhouse.
Stockman or Stovall, Sasse, Bright, Brannon, Bevin, Broun, Wolf, Carr, Maness, Cotton. The senate may be quite a different place next January, and they are afraid!
Glad Lamar is last. We’ll need maximum momentum to topple him.
Excellent!
Tennesseeans are so stubborn that after rejecting algore, they are sticking with Lamar! forever.
The Nazi propagandists at NBC have cranked up the BS shovel machine.
Nominating Paul Broun in GA would be a big mistake.
Broun is a creationist with foot-in-mouth disease who is overly friendly to Paultards. He’s the one GA Republican who could lose to the Spawn of Nunn. I’m rooting for Handel, but if Broun makes the run-off I’ll support whoever the other Republican is.
In SC, if Lee Bright makes the run-off, Graham will get six more years. Bright is no more conservative than Cash or Mace, but is far more apt at turning off potential voters. And Lee Bright’s middle name should be “Not-All-That,” given that he endorsed L. Ron Paul for president in 2012. Richard Cash is our best bet to stop Graham (but if people want to vote for Bright or Mace in the first round that’s fine, so long as Cash finishes second).
I’ve already beaten the Bevin horse to dath. He’s unqualified, dishonest, has no record to support his claims of conservatism, and I strongly suspect that he’s a Paulistinian.
Stockman is a gadfly with a shoddy electoral history who votes like a Paulbot and purposely timed his retirement announcement for the day of the filing deadline so as to prevent a black conservative state rep from running for his House seat. He does the seemingly impossible: making Cornyn appear reputable by comparison.
In NC, Brannon is a Paultard, and his only political activity prior to last year was donating money to a Paultard House candidate.
In 2010, Buck managed to blow a Senate race in CO that was in the bag, thanks to his bragging that he didn’t prosecte a rapist because the victim had an abortion and other stupid statements. We need to do better in CO if we want to beat Udall.
And “Obama’s cousin” in KS? What a joke.
I’m telling you, I don’t know if these self-appointed “Tea Party favorites” are flying solo, or if Paulbots have taken over Tea Party groups, but those candidates often described as “Tea Party favorites” are the liberals’ wet dreams, since they will make it likelier that a Democrat or a RINO will get elected.
The two saving graces for the Tea Party movement in 2014 Senate races are Chris McDaniel in MS and Joe Carr in TN. Both are solid conservatives with proven records and would win the general if they knock off the RINO in the primary. Fortunately, McDaniel appears to be well on his way to knocking off Cochran; unfortunately, Carr is trailing way behind RINO Lamar! Alexander and TN doesn’t have a run-off, so Alexander can win with a plurality.
I’m not hot on any of the major candidates in the GA Senate race. Too old or career politicians. I rather like this minister running:
Derrick Grayson
http://www.grayson2014.com/
Don’t know much about Derrick Grayson, but if he’s in the run-off against Broun, he’s my man. : )
I would rank Handel and Gingrey 1-2 on my list. Both are proven conservatives, and either one would be a historic selection: Handel would be the first Republican woman elected to either house of Congress representing GA, and Gingrey would become the first Catholic U.S. Senator from GA (too bad that Gingrey is so old).
Herman Cain should’ve run, even if just to serve for a single term.
I agree 100%, and I suspect that he could have served more than one term. Mr. Cain could have cleared the field and given The Lying Nunn no possible path to victory.
I’m reaching the point that perhaps 1 term in the Senate is all that should be served. Freeing them up from fundraising would allow them to focus on their jobs.
You’d also have no accountability after being elected, since they wouldn’t face the voters again), and in the odd chance that you got yourself a good Senator you’d have to give him up and face a crapshoot every six years. And with new Senators coming in every six years, unelected Senate staffers would wield even more power. Besides, I’m not too sure about a single-term limit relieving them of pressure to fundraise, since many of them would be fundraising for some other office (that’s certainly been the effect of term limits in state legislatures).
VA has a single-term limit for governors, and I don’t think that it’s led to better governors than in states without term limits or with a limit of two terms.
We don’t need term limits, we need better educated voters.
Of course, there’s hardly that much accountability now. They do what they please for 5 years and only pay attention to the voters for part of the election year.
I’m also aware of the powerful, behind the scenes staffers, and something will have to be done about that as well.
I am forced to pretty much entirely agree with you on all your points.
It’s mystifying to me as to why people are comparatively ignoring TN, where help is desperately needed to take out a legitimately sub-par incumbent and replace him with a conservative state legislator, in favor of a race like Kansas where a candidate composed entirely of hype is tauted against a conservative Senator who’s cardinal sin is “he’s been there too long” (voting the right way 95% of the time, the horror).
Thank goodness Cheney’s daughter quit her run against Enzi from the LEFT, cause I wouldn’t be able to take it if THAT nonsense was still going on.
Even MS, clearly the Tea party’s best chance, gets little attention around here compared with races like Texas. I think we have 1 MS freeper posting most of the McDaniel threads. Cochran, with the arguable exception of Graham, is the worst Republican up (besides the RINO Collins who’s weak primary challenger is being totally ignored). Lamar! isn’t far behind.
I guess it’s more sexy to support a guy off the street rather than elected officials like McDaniel and Carr (who are of course all UNCLEAN) , but that doesn’t explain Bright or Stockman. I really hope someone can overtake Bright to make the runoff instead because I see Graham making the race about him and probably succeeding. Stockman seems quite douchey, I’m glad I don’t live in Texas (in so far as having to vote in that Senate race). Despite a new poll showing him forcing a runoff, I doubt he’ll win.
As to GA I wish Rev. Grayson all luck but he’ll have to raise his name regogination out of the basement. I haven’t seen much polling but he’s at 1% in the last one. I gotta favor Handel over the trio of Congressman, especially Broun.
Some peepeepee, excuse me I mean PPP polls are out.
GA Senate Primary
Businessman David Perdue (first cousin of Sonny), “leads” the field with 13%, Kingston 11%, Broun 11%, Gingrey 10%, Handel 10%,
So Perdue is a viable alternative to the elected officials, but is he one we want? My instincts say no.
Kansas Poll, Roberts 49%, Dr. Milton Wolf-Odingo-Dunham 23%
Perhaps dubiously they have Governor Brownback trailing his rat opponent (State House Minority Leader Paul Davis) 42%-40% and have him with a bargain basement 33% approval rating. Are Kansas conservatives primarying the wrong incumbent?
I voted to confirm Sebelius and the Milton Wolf crowd is calling it a "deal breaker" and vowing to take me out, despite my 95% conservative record.
Really? I voted for her too, and they told me what a heroic pro-lfie leadaer I am, and touted me as Presidential material, even though my record isn't nearly as conservative as yours! Thank God for double standards!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.