“You seem to be missing the point of this article. McConnell is actively plotting to limit Cruz.”
I am not missing the point. McConnel can do whatever he likes. As the majority party, McConnel cannot do a thing because he will have to face the wrath of millions of conservatives.
McConnel would like nothing more than losing the senate because if we win the senate, Cruz cannot be stopped. So by staying home, we ensure Repubicans stay in the minority and forget the conservative running in 2016.
Bottom line. Want a Conservative president in 2016? The first step is winning the senate and that cannot be done with us home. I don’t Ike it, but unfortunately that’s the cards we’ve been dealt and as much as I want to fold, 2012 is not 2014. In 2012 we had a choice. If we want to see 2016, we have to get out there and take the senate in 2014.
I disagree, from two different angles.
First, there is an argument that whichever party is in power when "bad things happen" is going to take a hit in the following election. If the GOP is in power, in Congress, before the 2016 election, and it doesn't "make things better," then it's in a worse position (to win in 2016) than it would have been in if the DEMs were in charge of Congress.
From experience we know that both parties play the blame game, whether then are the majority party or not, but still, the party in power has more at risk.
Second, I don't know who you mean by "us at home." Winning an election requires a majority of votes. If pandering to the left gets more votes, then the way to win is to pander to the left.
McConnell and a good part of the GOP is hostile to the conservative point of view, and that may turn out to be a winning strategy. He must have calculated that the number of conservative "us at home" voters is insufficient to harm GOP efforts.