The RNC rolls out its Reagan Purity Test, to be considered by the RNC, scoring Republican candidates as to how well conservative they live up to their ideology. If they fail on three or more points, the RNC will not back them.
The Tea Partiers elbow out a perfectly good local Republican candidate in favor of a weak, ideologically pure candidate. And the Democrat wins.
Sarah Palin makes cryptic remarks about Jews flocking to Jerusalem in the coming months. She appears to be preparing for a run for President, even though any sane analysis would indicate she has no chance of winning a general election.
SNL runs a commercial about the 2012 election, Palin, winning, and the ensuing apocalypse...and some in the right wing believe it is a positive portrayal of the former, not-quite-full-term Governor.
As I watch the pundits and politicos, I see them asking the same question. The question is some variation of this:
Are they crazy? This kind of behavior can only make the party smaller, and spells doom for Republicans in future general elections.
The reason it seems crazy, in my opinion, is because those commentators do not understand a crucial feature of the religious right. I know, because I have been immersed in the culture of the religious right for most of my life.
These people believe the Biblical principle of blessings and cursings. They believe that the reason they are failing is because they are not righteous enough. They believe that all they have to do is "Get right with God," and God will bless them and help them win the elections.
In this light, from their skewed perspective, the purification of the party is not only logical, but expected. They believe that because they have allowed sin to flourish (in their view, not mine) then God is punishing them. And only if they show their faith by keeping the commandments diligently will things turn around.
Top this off with the fact that they believe that by "getting right with God" equates to the church becoming a bride who is ready to be married to Christ, upon his arrival, and we have Sarah fulfilling end-time prophecy (in their eyes), and apocalypse is...a good thing.