Such is the continuing dilemma of the GOP: How do you get out the message when the messengers keep getting in the way?

Now comes a fanatic with a gun. Let me be clear: I don’t mean to compare Terry or Keyes to the shooter. The former are passionate protesters; the latter is a murderer.

Nor do I join those who accuse talk show host Bill O’Reilly and others who have spoken out against Tiller as somehow being responsible for his murder. The man who pulled the trigger is responsible for Tiller’s death. Period.

That said, fire-breathers on the right don’t help, whatever the cause. They may warm the base, but the Republican base is becoming a remote island in mainstream America. Everyone else is paddling away.