Don't stop letting your freak flag fly now, guys.
House Republicans are eyeing a large number of new vacancies and worrying about the kind of Republicans showing up for the primaries. You know, the kind of Republicans that have
set the party's agenda for the past four years.
House Republicans worry they may be facing a Todd Akin problem as they seek to hold a number of open competitive seats.
After a rash of recent retirements by entrenched incumbents, Republicans are unexpectedly defending a number of seats in tossup or GOP-leaning districts. And to the national party’s chagrin, many of those controversial candidates are already running or planning to — and if they emerge as the nominee, it could endanger the GOP’s hold on the critical seats. [...]
Privately, Republicans [are] actively worrying that those landmine candidates could derail their chances. Outside groups say they’re closely watching the races as they develop and could even get involved in the primaries—something that could provoke the ire of Tea Party groups and further inflame tensions within the GOP.
"We're keenly aware of the primary problem and it's something we're in the process of addressing along with other groups," said one GOP operative. "It's something that's on everyone's radar."
Gee, can't imagine why someone like Todd Akin would look at the Republican House of Representatives and think they fit right in there. Not when the first high profile action they took to start this session was
another hearing on abortion, featuring 12 of the Judiciary committee's men. The entire agenda of the post-2010 Republican House has been set by the tea party, all they way down to last fall's disastrous government shutdown.
Now "establishment" Republicans are worried about the kind of candidates they're attracting? They're not attracting them, they're creating them.