The Most Misleading Number About the Tea Party and the Senate

Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell signs copies of her book "Trouble Maker" at a Virginia Tea Party rally at Fort C.F. Smith on August 18, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia.

In one of the 500 "both sides share the blame" columns that National Journal is required to run every day, Charlie Cook repeats the least useful "data point" about the Tea Party's role in dragging down the GOP.

In 2010, the GOP lost five of the seven Senate contests The Cook Political Report rated as toss-ups going into Election Day; in 2012, it lost eight of 10. When a party loses 13 of 17 toss-ups over two elections, it has a problem. In many cases, Republicans nominated horrifically flawed candidates who didn’t quite self-destruct but were too weak to win. In other cases, they nominated candidates who did self-destruct. And when these problematic candidates pulled the pin on the grenade, other GOP office-seekers in their states became collateral damage.

By David Weigel

The Confused Person’s Guide to Sequester Politics

Who is lying to you about sequestration? Whom should you believe?

Speaker of the House John Boehner, with Reps. Martha Roby, R-Ala., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., talk about the sequester on Feb. 13.

Hagel Was Just the Appetizer

 

Why are Democrats perpetually shocked—shocked!—when Republicans throw hurdles in front of their nominees?

Rand Paul Runs Ads Against Democrats Who Back Foreign Aid to Arab Spring Nations

Via Jim Antle, I see that Sen. Rand Paul's PAC (did you know he had one?) is running 60-second ads against possibly vulnerable Democratic senators. This one attacks Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who's fallen off the GOP's target list after a compromise-tastic first two years. (In 2010, he solidly won the seat opened up by the death of Robert Byrd.)






This ad jibes with the positions of John Raese, the perennial candidate challenging Manchin. "The fact that we send these countries $4 billion in foreign aid, that's where I'd start cutting," Raese said in a debate this month. Paul's other target is Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, another Democrat who's built a strong lead against a weak Republican, Connie Mack IV. These aren't particularly strategic targets. Paul is likely getting under the skin of Democrats who'll be back in January, for six more years.

 

 

 

 

By David Weigel