GOP Self-Destructing?

Doyle McManus poses the question in The Los Angeles Times.

Every political party has its factions, of course. And parties that have recently lost presidential elections — as the GOP just did — are often the most divided. But the current brawl in the GOP seems more destructive and personal than most. McCain has called Paul and Cruz "wacko birds," for example, while Cruz called his GOP critics the "surrender caucus." Christie warned that Paul's views were "very dangerous." Paul responded by calling Christie "the king of bacon."

Part of the problem is that Republicans in the Senate and the House have grown steadily more conservative, with fewer compromise-friendly moderates in their ranks. To Cruz and other tea party insurgents, traditional Republicans are part of the problem, not part of the solution. "I don't trust the Republicans," Cruz has said. "It is leadership in both parties that has gotten us into this mess." Another reason for the bickering is that the most committed Republican voters aren't interested in compromise. A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center found that most Republican voters don't think the GOP is conservative enough — especially on government spending, where the faithful are squarely against further deal-making.