Ordinarily, I would wholeheartedly agree with Mitt Romney that it’s risky for the Democrats and bad for the country to promote the most crazed Republican primary candidates on the theory that they’ll be easier to beat than saner contenders. This is all in reference to a national strategy the Democrats have adopted, costing millions of dollars.

Boosting election-denying candidates in GOP primaries could backfire and lead to grave consequences for the country, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) warned Democrats on Tuesday.

“It’s not illegal but it sure is stupid,” Romney told HuffPost. “Be careful what you wish for. You may select somebody who actually wins and then you hurt the country as well as your own party.”

But these are not ordinary times. It’s no longer possible to tell which Republicans are sane or only pretending to be sane. Likewise, plenty of Republicans are saying things they don’t believe in an effort to appear insane, because being insane is the best electoral strategy within the GOP right now. Many of these fake lunatics are also voting like lunatics or even introducing lunatic bills, which makes them functionally indistinguishable from actual lunatics.

Put another way, if someone like Mitt Romney, who knows better, votes for lunatic legislation, what advantage does the country get from that? The only solution is to replace the Romney Republican with a Democrat.

In these circumstances, all that matters is who is the easiest to beat. The only thing we can wish for is victory, so what’s to be careful about?

Finally, there is always at least some benefit for the Democrats from elected Republicans who act dangerously insane. It helps cast the entire GOP as extreme, which is a major understatement in any case.

Rules that applied in normal times, no longer apply. Aggressive tactics are preferable to risk avoidance because the risk is unavoidable.