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Over the past couple of weeks, the fault lines in the Republican congressional primaries have become much clearer.
In the west, no one is buying the BassMaster's sudden conversion to Tea People Leader. I can't imagine a candidate more at odds with the new Rush Limbaugh-Glenn Beck defined GOP base.
On the other hand, career beltway pol Charlie is, by dint of name recognition and implicit NRCC support, becoming the presumptive frontrunner. This will be especially true if Jennifer Horn turns in another disappointing fundraising quarter.
Now we see a similar pattern emerging in the east. Frank Guinta is clearly the favorite from the increasingly dominant Glenn Beckistan GOP base. But his lousy fundraising - this quarter badly masked by a 100K loan (and he is not the kind of Binnie/Bender self-funder who can do that at will) has the DC puppeteers nervous.
On the other hand, military-industrial lobbyist Rich Ashooh has kept a moderate, low-key profile and done his dialing for dollars, to the tune of over 200k in eight weeks' time.
The fault lines are pretty clear now. There are the values that the base demands, in Jennifer Horn and Frank Guinta, and then there are the likely nominees, Charlie Bass and Rich Ashooh.
Will the Tea People turn out for a six-term, stem-cell supporting, Bush era backbencher, or a moderate, Romney-supporting industry lobbyist whose firm has donated to Democrats?
Adding: Just to be clear, neither choice is acceptable for our future. On the one hand, you have pandering, sometimes irresponsibly, dangerously so, to 21st century aggrieved Archie Bunkerism. On the other, you have allegiance to the national GOP and their corporate overlords.
Charlie Bass, to use just one egregious example out of many, voted for a war based on false premises that resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives ending before their time, many more wounded, many more displaced, the loss of our treasure and our moral standing in the world.
On that one vote alone he lost his right to represent me again.
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