Exhibit B: Nevada, where everyone agrees that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is extremely vulnerable. But perhaps not quite vulnerable enough to lose to Sharron Angle, a woman who wants to abolish social security, the department of education and the income tax. Reid did his best to make Angle his opponent, spending heavily to undermine the more moderate GOP frontrunner, Sue Lowden. It seems to have worked. Angle is the perfect symbol of the Republican base in 2010: She’s a fresh face; she enjoys grassroots support, and she wants to repeal the handiwork not just of Franklin Roosevelt, but of Theodore Roosevelt.
Successful parties motivate their activists, but harness them as well. They convince them that it is so important to retake power that it’s worth supporting ideologically impure candidates who have the best chance to win. That’s not happening in today’s Republican Party. The GOP has not been in the political wilderness long enough to make those compromises; it’s not in a pragmatic frame of mind. Republican activists are desperate to show America how angry they are; they’re less desperate to win elections. And on both counts, they may get their wish.
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