Conservative groups struggling to recruit candidates in key 2014 races

“There is a sliver of truth … in the sense that, maybe compared to other cycles, the conservative candidates have not come on line as quickly,” said Matt Hoskins, executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund.

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They says that the movement suffered after enduring setbacks in the last cycle.

Conservatives are disillusioned by candidates they once supported who seem to abandon their campaign promises once elected. They’re discouraged by the process, wary of engaging with a party establishment that seems intent on minimizing their impact on races.

And, like the rest of the GOP, they’re disappointed with the outcome of the 2012 elections, when a candidate they considered “Republican lite” — Mitt Romney — botched a winnable presidential race and Republicans actually lost seats in the Senate and House.

The loss of seats in Congress, some Republicans have said, happened precisely because conservatives have an outsize impact on nominating contests, citing Republican Todd Akin’s fumble of an easy Senate pickup in Missouri as evidence.

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