I'm not much for conspiracy theories. They don't do much for me and I have been known to be sharply cynical and scathingly biting in dealing with those who support them.
Just the same, here is one for you - that the failure to take over the Senate and House is PLANNED. I mean face it, some of these candidates from the Teabagger arm of the Republicant party couldn't be screwing up more if they tried.
I half-way suspect that the current Republicant leadership actually wants the Teabagger element of their party to fail badly. Not all of them will, and they'll take every win they can get, but the big Senate names aren't going to come away with the victory they believe they will - that much is obvious. But it does set up something far worse; an infusion.
Something else bothers me too: in the wake of Citizen’s United I expected there to be much more money being spent then there has been. A whole lot more. I'll put these two together after the jump.
Here's a hypothetical for you - what if after this is over and the blood has been spilled, some well-placed Republican party operatives go to the teabag movement and say, "if you let us be your handlers next time, maybe we can keep control of the message. We can help guide you to victory." You see, I think that Democratic control of Congress would be in serious jeopardy if the Teabagger crowd just kept their mouths shut. And I think that after they lose they're going to be forced to listen seriously to the people who have been there before. Many of these people are neophytes on the national political stage and it's hurting them. But I'm worried that if they aren't crushed that they'll be back in larger numbers in 2012, with more crazy, but better handlers.
A lot of money has been pumped into this election by those who benefit most from the Citizens United decision. but I'll be honest with you, it's less money than I thought would come. Don’t get me wrong - it's not pocket change by any measure - but I honestly thought it would be much worse than this. It's as if they're doing a little bit now so that they can do more much later. If they don't gain control of either house in the election they can claim that their money didn't really have the impact that everyone feared - that the status quo set in place by that Supreme Court decision is actually nothing to worry about. That in turn could bring a certain amount of complacency.
And I fear that this is the moment where the Teabaggers gain the counsel of people with experience, and a shitload more money than anyone is currently imagining. What would this election be like if Rand Paul, Joe Miller, Christine O'Donnell and Sharon Angle were instead better-vetted candidates, with filters between their mouths and their brains, and 20 times as much money? I'm worried that we are going to find out in 2 years (and probably much less).
And that could be a disaster.
Note: An expanded version of this post will appear later this evening at http://www.whatthefuckiswrongwithyou.org