I agree with John Dickerson. Tea Party folks probably shouldn’t be gearing up for war with Karl Rove. Or, maybe they should be, I don’t know. Let’s consider what Rove’s Conservative Victory Project is likely to do, in practice. We already know that they will support someone in Iowa who is not Rep. Steve King. They will probably oppose Michele Bachmann if she chooses to challenge Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota. They will try to find someone to replace the retiring Saxby Chambliss in Georgia who isn’t entirely crazy, although that may be hard to do. If Lindsey Graham or Susan Collins or Thad Cochran or Lamar Alexander or Mitch McConnell have any primary challenges, Rove’s outfit will try to crush them. In West Virginia, they’ll try to assure that Rep. Shelley Capito Moore wins the nomination to replace retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller.
Now, if you think Steve King and Michele Bachmann can win statewide, I have some crack cocaine for you to smoke. If you think it will help the Republican brand to have King and Bachmann running statewide and making daily national news, I need to up my offer to a speedball.
Rove is trying to increase the odds that the Republicans can win back the Senate. I don’t know what the Tea Party is trying to do.
