The Republican party leaders in Washington, D. C. are now faced with six nominees for the Senate not originally supported by the GOP Senatorial Campaign Committee! There is unpredictability as to what this means for the party structure and stability in the Senate, if all or most of the six win their Senate races!
Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sharron Angle of Nevada have made the most news with their controversial statements and refusal to talk to mainstream media!
But also not originally favored by party leaders are Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ken Buck of Colorado, and Linda McMahon of Connecticut!
The only one of these six that can be seen as a definite winner in November is Mike Lee of Utah, a state where the Republicans dominate to such an extent that it is clear his Democratic opponent has no chance to win the seat! Senator Robert Bennett was defeated by Tea Party activists in a state convention.
Rand Paul defeated the establishment favorite, Trevor Grayson, in Kentucky, and has been an embarrassment to Mitch McConnell, and if he wins the Senate seat over Jack Conway, will be a “loose cannon” sure to give the Republican leader and his party a lot of grief!
Sharron Angle defeated Sue Lowden in Nevada, the party favorite, and has been a literal nightmare as she campaigns, and will be a “lightning rod” if she manages to defeat Harry Reid!
Marco Rubio managed to destroy Governor Charlie Crist’s chances for the GOP nomination in Florida, and is loved by the Tea Party, but as an Independent, Crist might yet win the Senate race!
Ken Buck defeated Jane Norton in Colorado, and is a Tea Party favorite, but faces a tough race against Michael Bennet, and has made statements highly controversial in the vein of Paul and Angle!
Linda McMahon, the former head of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) has used her substantial fortune to defeat establishment favorite Rob Simmons in Connecticut, but faces an uphill race against state Attorney General Dick Blumenthal!
A Senate with all of these individuals in the chamber would be a major nightmare for Mitch McConnell and other GOP leaders! In fact, there is no guarantee that there would not be a rebellion against the party leadership, that could lead to more extreme Republicans such as Jim DeMint of South Carolina or James Inhofe of Oklahoma as the Senate leaders!
The Tea Party is creating a scenario for the Republican Party that they may long regret! 🙂
The good news is that as things stand right now, as stated earlier, the only certain winner is Mike Lee of Utah, but all of these six races will be key ones for assessing the future impact of the Senate on American politics, no matter whether the Democrats keep control, or somehow, the Republicans win control!
You are just dreaming if you think that the Republican base cares one wit about whether Mitch McConnell is happy with who we elect. Mitch McConnell is an alright guy, but he is inarticulate and ineffective (and doesn’t know the issues.) These old guard people need to be retired.
Oh, and it is likely that the only people you named that are likely to lose are Sharon Angle and Linda McMahon, and even they might surprise us. And just look at Alaska!
Unlike the Democrat party, the Tea Party is proving that the party belongs to US, the people, and even more important than taking back the country, is taking back our own party from unprincipled, fat cat, scared politicians.