House Republicans continue to ROMP towards oblivion

We told you in April about the latest incarnation of House Republicans' vaunted ROMP program. ROMP stands, amusingly enough, for the "Regain Our Majority Program".

Only thing is, the first installment of ROMP candidates in 2008 didn't really have anything to do with actually regaining the majority. Out of 10 Republicans on the list, seven were incumbents, and exactly one was targeting a Democratic-held seat.

Interesting way of regaining the majority, through incumbent protection.

Well, the GOP's Red Army has done it again. Per GOP leaders Roy Blunt and Eric Cantor, the newest incarnation of ROMP:

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, WV-02
Rep. Phil English, PA-03
Chris Hackett, PA-10
Rep. Tom Feeney, FL-24
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, FL-21
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, FL-25
Steve Stivers, OH-16
Pete Olson, TX-22

Give them credit for positive momentum. In April, ROMP targeted one Democrat, John Yarmuth of Kentucky. Now, at least,two out of the eight names on this list are chasing Democratic-held seats (Nick Lampson in TX-22, and Chris Carney in PA-10).

There's one open-seat candidate here, too, Steve "Window-Shopper" Stivers.

Everybody else is an incumbent, many of them in formerly safe GOP seats (like Feeney, English and the Diaz-Balarts).

It seems rather clear that even with this program, specifically designed for targeting vulnerable Democrats, the GOP is on the defensive, more focused on minimizing losses than, you know, regaining a majority.

Perhaps it's time ROMP was renamed.