Republicans are Coming Apart at the Seams

Recently I linked to some snide and derogatory comments about Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert as were reported from an Illinois primary battle, and over the weekend at least four additional articles appeared in the nation's newspapers, which detailed more of the rift between ideologically-pure Republican conservatives and their more moderate brethren in races going all the way down to judgeship.

What's odd is that in South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham has been censured or rebuked by several county organizations, even though he has a lifetime rating of 90% from the American Conservative Union.

And what's somewhat ironic is that all of the articles mention the Tea Party protesters and 912 Project members as instigators of this insurrection, but right now, I'd say the "leaders" of these groups and two of the biggest names in the Republican Party are Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, both of whom have backed or expressed a willingness to consider third-party candidates.

In other words, RINOs are under attack from Republicans-in-name-only.

• Conservative beliefs clash in race
• South Carolina Rift Highlights Debate Over G.O.P.
  
• Sen. John Cornyn faces Republican rift in fight for Senate seats
• Parties waging internal fights before battling each other in 2010

Update: Lindsey Graham has been censured again (1/5/2010)

Sarah Palin Doesn't Play Well With Others

John Bitney, Governor Palin's former legislative aide, who is now an aide to another Republican Alaska lawmaker is quoted by the Anchorage Daily News in response to her book, as saying;

I'm just pilloried right and left and turned into the big bad wolf here for stuff I didn't do. It's like I'm this fictional character that she's decided to make me out to be this sort of incompetent slob.

And in jest, when he was asked on a recent political talk show if Sarah is sane, where he was joined by a Republican Palin nemesis and Anne Kilkenney, who wrote the infamous email that sent Ms. Palin's Vice-Presidential bid off the rails, Mr. Bitney replied;

Is a sociopath sane?

In this same Anchorage Daily News article, Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican said that he's not going to read her book because she's "entertainment and not news".

Considering her relationship with the state Republican Party and the bridges she has burnt with the McCain campaign staff, one has to wonder if her apparent popularity with the party base is enough to keep the Republican machine from derailing a possible 2012 bid, or whether they'll just let her run as a sacrificial lamb.

I'd say that most likely, it'll depend on President Obama's poll numbers at the end of next year. If the establishment thinks they have a shot, watch for the rug to be pulled from beneath her feet.

(Video links: "sane" clip, full show)