3/8/2014, "Leading Republicans Move to Stamp Out Challenges From Right," NY Times, Carl Hulse
"As conservative activist groups stirred up trouble for establishment Republican Senate candidates in 2010 and 2012, party leaders in Washington first tried to ignore the insurgents, then tried to reason with them, and ultimately left it to primary voters to settle the matter....
This election season, Republicans led by Senator Mitch McConnell
of Kentucky are taking a much harder line as they sense the majority
within reach. Top congressional Republicans and their allies are
challenging the advocacy groups head on in an aggressive effort to
undermine their credibility. The goal is
to deny them any Senate primary
victories,
cut into their fund-raising and
diminish them as a future
force in Republican politics.
“I
think we are going to crush them everywhere,” Mr. McConnell, the Senate
Republican leader, said in an interview, referring to the network of
activist organizations working against him and two Republican incumbents
in Kansas and Mississippi while engaging in a handful of other
contests. “I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee
anywhere in the country.”...
“I know this: Politics doesn’t like losers,” said Mr. McConnell, who
suggested that a high-profile series of defeats would deflate the
groups. “If you don’t have anything to point to, it is kind of hard to
keep it going.”"...
Image, 1/4/2013, Getty
.
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