The Kochs, Adelmans, and Romneys feel they’re not getting good value for their vote-buying dollars. Karl Rove — having recovered somewhat from his election-day on-air meltdown — is happy to “help” them some more, for the right price of course. Per the NYTimes:
Top G.O.P. Donors Seek Greater Say in Senate Races
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate.The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.
“There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,” said Steven J. Law, the president of American Crossroads, the “super PAC” creating the new project. “We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection business, but we want to pick the most conservative candidate who can win.”…
Representative Steve King, a six-term Iowa Republican, could be among the earliest targets of the Conservative Victory Project. He said he had not decided whether he would run for the Senate, but the leaders of the project in Washington are not waiting to try to steer him away from the race.
The group’s plans, which were outlined for the first time last week in an interview with Mr. Law, call for hard-edge campaign tactics, including television advertising, against candidates whom party leaders see as unelectable and a drag on the efforts to win the Senate. Mr. Law cited Iowa as an example and said Republicans could no longer be squeamish about intervening in primary fights…
For all the hippy-punching and firebagging so essential to us Democrats, we’ve at least had a century-old tradtion of what might be called “sunlight” campaign practices. Part of the Repubs’ success in undermining the national commenwealth over the past several generations is that keeping the actual beliefs & practices of their nominees under the public radar has been S.O.P. In my opinion, not only will it be enjoyable to watch the GOP True Beliefers and Sugar Daddies tear each other up, it will be instructive to the general voting public!