There's also the general sense that Republicans may eventually be harmed by their inability to nominate electable candidates. To me, that's the story of Rand Paul. Of course, Paul may well win the general election, but I continue to think there's a good chance that Republican gains this year will be harmed overall by the nomination of ideologically extreme nominees, and in some cases less capable candidates, and by the pressure in other districts for mainstream conservatives to act as if they were ideologically extreme. It will be interesting to see how Paul in particular fares in a general election context; Kentucky is a good state for Republicans, and with a mainstream conservative candidate I don't think it would have been a contest, but now I'd expect a fair amount of uncertainty. The question is how many districts around the nation are having similar results.
David Kurtz makes a similar point on Talking Points Memo.
America has always been a country in which the center prevailed. That is why I agree with Bernstein that selecting ideologically extreme candidates is a great way to lose elections. As the GOP moves ever further right, conservative blogger David Frum is right in warning that they doom themselves to increasing political irrelevance.
--Ballard Burgher
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