GOP could take Senate in 2014 if it avoids self-destructive candidates (Tokyo Rove knows best...)

The Hill ^ | 5/2/13 | Jonathan Easley

[jimbo123]

Former Bush adviser and GOP strategist Karl Rove says Republicans have a good chance of taking the Senate from Democrats in 2014 if they avoid nominating the types of candidates who stumbled badly in once competitive 2012 races.

“Republican success will depend on having quality Senate candidates,” Rove wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. “Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock self-destructed last fall, and other candidates squandered important opportunities.”

[cripplecreek]

Go right on ahead and do your worst but maybe you should stop trying to moderate the GOP and consider moderating the party that actually needs it.

Frankly I’m not easily impressed.

[Darren McCarty]

Rove...my favorite.

“Republican success will depend on having quality Senate candidates,” Rove wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. “Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock self-destructed last fall, and other candidates squandered important opportunities.” Romney and Tommy Thompson lost too.

[Paladin2]

Taking the Senate might actually be a positive if all the new Pubbie Senators were watching Ted Cruz’ back.

[Paladin2]

How many more Juans and Linda Gramnesties do we need?

[arthurus]

GOP could take Senate in 2014

but not if Rove and McCain et al can help it

[C. Edmund Wright]

Go right on ahead and do your worst but maybe you should stop trying to moderate the GOP and consider moderating the party that actually needs it.

You asked for it. You have accused me of being a Rove tool. You have accused me of doing what Rove wants me to do. You have accused me of trying, at the behest of Rove, to moderate the party. Allow me exhibit A demonstrating the abject ignorance of your repeated charges: it is 103 thousand words, covering 20 years, documenting establishment failure and pointing directly at Rove as the chief architect of this failure for the last 13 years. YOUR ABJECT IGNORANCE is on display, and you force me to display it:

[Paladin2]

"A true conservative could destroy Pryor in Arkansas"

Tom Cotton.

[cripplecreek]

And here I am still unimpressed.

[Paladin2]

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.

In practice there is. ;-)

[so_real]

Oh, I agree completely. If the GOP listens to Rove, "self-destruction" is inevitable. Rove is the republican Obama. He's doing as much ill to the "republican" brand name as Obama is doing to the "democrat" brand name.

[C. Edmund Wright]

You may be unimpressed, but you were just proven embarrassingly wrong. Your accusations were demonstrated as ignorant, absurd, and about as far from the truth as is possible. There it is, on the thread, post by post, tick tick BOOM!

It was so important to you, for some man crush reason, to die on Todd Akin’s hill, that you charged into a live howitzer.

[Longbow1969]

O’Donnell is far more impressive than given credit for,

This woman was a basketcase. There is just no way around it. She had so many personal issues, including having attempted to sue a conservative organization for gender discrimination (for millions of dollars), sketchy financial problems, etc, that she just wasn't fit to be a candidate.

Not only that, despite all the carping she and others did about Republicans not rallying around her in the 2010 general election, she herself lost a Republican primary and ran a 3rd party write in campaign in 2006. So much for the party discipline and sticking together that she clamored for when she needed the votes as the GOP nominee.

I do understand Castle was a RINO squish and a walking turncoat. But winning the Senate in 2010 was really important. As is, we can't put Obama on the spot and make him veto anything because the Senate kills everything the House sends over. Votes for the leadership are essentially the most important thing a congresscritter or Senator does, and McConnell (weak as he can be) is vastly better than Reid.

I asked friends of mine in SC why people support him, and they all say he is very likeable, dynamic,

Yeah, well, he's probably going to lose. And conservatives in this district may have been in the mood to forgive, but nominating Sanford was a stupid mistake.

[napscoordinator]

I don’t get the hate for Governor Palin from Rove. She has a winning number of election wins under her belt, but Rove fights her ever move. If Rove would have supported her and respected her, she could have done wonders in 2012 and Rove would be able to pat himself on the back thinking he won (lol), but no he disses Governor Palin and we all lose. It just doesn’t make sense. I thought Rove’s objective was to win Republican seats. That situation will always be a mystery to me.

[Viennacon]

Sharon Angle did not ‘self-destruct’. She was a good conservative facing an uphill battle. Do you think some mealy mouthed Republican would have defeated Reid? The man has the most effective GOTV network there is with the culinary unions.
Akin was NOT the ‘conservative’ choice. He was up to his eyeballs in earmarks, and was backed by McCatskull in the primary!
O’Donnell, again, was in an uphill battle. Do you realize how blue that state is? She was a strong conservative against the UNACCEPTABLE abortionist Castle. She made some stupid comment about witches years ago, and responded badly when it was brought up, but in the end, she was unlikely to win in the first place.

Sanford won his primary because he’s a good salesman. I wouldn’t have voted for him, but the people of that district made a judgement call. He hasn’t lost yet either, so I’m not sure why you’re complaining now.

The RNC, Rove, Priebus, are corrupt low-lifes. They backed Crist. You trust them to decide which candidates “can win”? Well, you just remember Rehberg, McMahon, Allen, and Berg. These people are idiots. WE won the House in 2010. All Karl Rove has done is lose us the presidency TWICE.

[N. Theknow]

I’d say Karl Rove engineered the biggest flop of all: Mitt Romney!

And the base stayed home and didn't vote for Senate candidates either.

[MachIV]

Precisely. Well said.

[cripplecreek]

((shrug))

[C. Edmund Wright]

Well I gotta tell you, after meeting O’Donnell in person, I don’t share your assessment, though I know a lot of folks do. I also think that winning the Senate at the price of putting liberals in there with an R by their names would be more destrutive in the long run. Castle was liberal even for a Democrat. I rarely EVER say this, but we are better off losing than having Castle in there. RARE CASE, but the truth in this situation.

As for Sanford, I don’t know why they nominated him. Its a district we’ll probably lose, for two years, then win it back easily. Colbert Busch is a joke, and it’s a conservative disctrict.

[C. Edmund Wright]

There were better conservatives in the primary than Angle. She was certainly prefereable to Reid, but far from impressive.

[C. Edmund Wright]

....as if we needed more reasons to understand what a disaster Michigan is.....