Posted on 08/04/2014 3:58:50 PM PDT by cotton1706
They’ve spent loads of money, and, in some cases, have energized the grassroots against the so-called Republican establishment.
But so far this year, conservative challengers have failed to topple a single incumbent Republican senator: John Cornyn of Texas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have all been victorious over their tea party rivals.
That makes this week — when voters go to the polls in Kansas and Tennessee — the last chance this primary cycle when a conservative challenger could take out a Republican incumbent senator, replacing them on the ballot in November.
In Kansas, radiologist Milton Wolf, who boasts of being related to Barack Obama, is angling to beat Sen. Pat Roberts in Tuesday’s Republican primary. In Tennessee, state House Rep. Joe Carr is challenging Sen. Lamar Alexander in Thursday’s vote.
Polling indicates that both Roberts and Alexander are heavily favored to win their races.
A recent poll by Survey USA shows Roberts up by 20 points.
But last week, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which endorsed Wolf, celebrated a poll they commissioned showing Wolf down just nine points.
“We just received the results of our latest poll in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Kansas, and the race is down to single digits!! Conservative Dr. Milton Wolf (R-KS) has cut Senator Pat Roberts’ lead down to just nine points and only trails 41-32,” the Senate Conservatives Fund said in a fundraising solicitation.
Like in Kansas, polling in the Tennessee race is all over the board: Alexander’s campaign released a poll showing him leading Carr by 29 points. A poll sponsored by the Tea Party Nation shows Alexander up by just eight points.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
We should be removing two!
Got a real shot at Lamar. All about turnout.
Would have knocked off Thad but for his dirty tricks.
I still don’t understand how Kentucky renominated that turtle head, McConnell.
Mississippi isn’t finished yet.
I’ll take who is Eric Cantor for 100, Alex.
Yes, I know he’s a congressman.
They are still in place because they are in open primaries.
This will not change until republicans hold closed primaries and keep the democRATS from skewing the results to democRAT ite.
Bevin shot himself in the foot by giving a speech to a group promoting blood sports. It was all over the news and killed his campaign, surprised you missed it.
When it comes to John Cornyn, here’s your choice.
Do you vote for the democrat that lies and says he’s a
republican or the democrat that says he’s a democrat?
Some choice. The liar or the lying liar.
I think I’ll just skip that one and vote for neither.
Or I’ll write in Ted Nugent if I can.
Actually, I knew about the cock fighting issue, but based on the alternative, KY should have still chosen Bevin over McConnell.
I just saw that McDaniel is officially challenging the results of the Mississippi run-off. Good for him, and I hope he wins.
Regarding Lindsay Graham, why were there four or five challengers in the SC Primary? That’s just dumb or were a few of them paid to do it to ensure Graham got back in?
Exactly the problem. Some of these Rino’s we’ll first have to suffer a Democrat that calls themselves a Democrat to win before we can mount a real conservative next cycle.
I’ve totally broken with Ann Coulter and the Republican party over the Rino situation and am now Go Palin.
Lamar! and Honey must be laughing at this headline.
I haven’t read the full article, but I suspect it didn’t point out that many of the establishment victories were by very underwhelming margins, considering the overwhelming money advantage of the incumbents and considering that most of the challengers started out with very low name identifications.
It was well worth the effort to let the Big Government Republicans know that we are going to keep coming after them, and the opposition to the federal behemoth is growing.
“Yes, I know he’s a congressman.”
Not for long.
“It was well worth the effort to let the Big Government Republicans know that we are going to keep coming after them”
Absolutely! For one, it kept these senators voting conservative and looking over their shoulders for a solid two years. And the lower the conservative rating, the lower the margin of victory, I have no doubt that this has been noticed by the Establishment.
Cornyn and McConnell (careful conservative records above 80%): 59% and 60% primary victory margins respectfully.
Lindsey Graham, conservative record in the low 60’s if not the high 50’s: 56% primary victory margin.
Thad Cochran, pathetic ratings in the low 50’s: exactly 50%.
Watch the trend continue with Roberts and Alexander. Roberts is more conservative and Alexander significantly less so. Should be reflected in their margins.
And once they’re done, on to 2016, where there are a significant number of incumbent republicans with low conservative ratings. I’m predicting a bunch of retirements.
“Absolutely! For one, it kept these senators voting conservative and looking over their shoulders for a solid two years. And the lower the conservative rating, the lower the margin of victory, I have no doubt that this has been noticed by the Establishment.”
I copied you exactly because I could not have said what I was thinking any better...
Regarding Lindsay Graham, why were there four or five challengers in the SC Primary? That’s just dumb or were a few of them paid to do it to ensure Graham got back in?
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You are a little confused, my friend. In a Presidential Primary, your premise is absolutely correct. Romney the Moderate had 7 “conservative” challengers who divided up the conservative vote and Romney waltzed to the nomination. However, in low-ballot Primaries, it doesn’t matter how many are running. If no one gets 50% plus 1 vote, there is a run-off between the top two vote-getters. Unfortunately, Lindsey Graham got over 50% and wins without a run-off. Same with John Cornyn... won over multiple candidates with no run-off. So, actually, in these primaries, it’s better to have multiple candidates challenging the incumbent. That lessens the chances for the incumbent to get 50%; but, two have do it so far this election. And then look at Kentucky; Mitch McConnell romped to victory and he had only 1 opponent.
I say again, in Presidential Primaries, your premise holds true but not in the lower ballot races.
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