“I am petrified by past results in Indiana, Delaware & Missouri where sure to win republican senate seats were lost by nominating bad candidates.”
While such apprehension is understandable, analyzing the particular situation of the TN Senate race should put your mind at ease. While it is true that Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock proved that even experienced candidates can put their foot in their mouths and derail a candidacy, Joe Carr is not a gadfly with a shady past like Christine O’Donnell. But the main reason why I can safely assert that Carr would waltz into the Senate if he defeats Alexander in the primary is that, unlike in DE in 2010 and IN and MO in 2012, the Democrats will not nominate a viable candidate for the TN Senate seat—the candidates are all unknowns with no money. So you don’t need to worry about the seat falling to the Democrats if Carr wins the primary.