And they never will admit that at least two of them, Angle in NV in 2010 and Akin in MO in 2012, were hand picked by Harry Reid. The Democrats spent money in the Republican Primary to nominate the weakest Republican candidate.
Until we sole that problem, and admitting it exists is the first step, we are going to continue to give away seats in the Senate.
People used to rant about the political bosses of both parties who met in backrooms and decided who ran for elections and therefore the fate of their party.
They often selected politicians who then owed them favors when they were elected.
The conclusion of political reformers was that these backroom pols were a bad thing for parties and the Republic.
But what reformers always overlooked was that these guys were pragmatic pros. They were all about winning elections, not being right on principles. They knew politics and more importantly,they knew the people who wanted to run, their follies and their hidden flaws that might be exposed and prevent them from winning. They weren’t about to support some crazy that might say something that would lose the election.
The extremes of both parties have never developed any political pros, although you could argue that the left now has some political operatives who have actually elected a Kenyan Muslim Socialist to the Presidency. :-)