Just a few days ago a GOP flack was on my case about how John Cornyn had successfully avoided a Tea Party challenger, after I described how much he was still doing to play to the crazy to avoid just such a challenge. Now the Texas Monthly has published a November interview with Cornyn in which he complains that the Tea Party sets an “impossible standard” for Republicans to meet. And that’s come just hours after Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), perhaps one of the whackiest members of Congress, announced that he is challenging Cornyn.
Everyone seemed to think Cornyn had successfully evaded a challenge and that he was home free. And Stockman got in just under the wire. I’m curious whether he waited so long precisely to assure a serious Democrat didn’t get into the race. As long as there’s no serious Democrat running, that will make it easier for him to argue he’s not another Akin in the making.
Of course, he is basically an Akin in the making, or an Akin before there was Akin (Stockman first came in in the ’94 Republican landslide but was too nuts and got bounced out after one term). But if there’s no credible Dem, maybe he gets through?
