GOP v. GOP. Who Will Win?

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When I was away I tried to get some distance from the moment to moment election tussle and think about whatever big themes I could find. And the one I kept coming back to was the one that was pretty obvious when I was awash in all the details: which will be the more dominant force? Republicans heading toward election day with virtually every advantage of their side? Or Republicans in maybe half the big races in the country working as hard as they can to sabotage their own chances.

I don’t think you need to be a raving Democratic partisan to believe that on the whole Republicans have fielded a really weak overall team to contest the 2010 elections, especially on the Senate level. It may also be the case at the House level. But the number of House contests is so great there’s been less press scrutiny.

Some of these candidates are just bad candidates in general terms, others may be gifted politicians in their own ways but their views are just needlessly extreme in the context of a general election (Rand Paul). Some are both, like Sharron Angle.

All that said, though, the economy is so bad and Republicans are so energized even someone like Angle, who a lot of national Republicans are now washing their hands of, is still at worst in basically a tie race with Harry Reid, who’s got a ton of cash and is one of the shrewdest and canniest politicians in recent Nevada history.

What are other examples? Florida Senate, Florida Governor, Connecticut Senate, Colorado Senate and Governor. Tell me others.

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