Charlie Cook has a fun piece in the National Journal that makes a good case for the GOP to get its collective head examined:
Here’s a question for conservatives and Republicans: Going into the 2012 Election Day, or even in the last few days before Election Day, did you think Mitt Romney was going to win? A couple of months ago, did you think the strategy of threatening to shut down the government or prevent raising the debt ceiling, to force the outright repeal or defunding of Obamacare, would really work?
So the question is whether conservatives and Republicans should begin to worry if their instincts—specifically, their judgment on matters of politics and policy—are a bit off. Maybe “spectacularly wrong” would be more accurate. Does that worry anyone on the right or in the Republican Party? Are they concerned that continuing to follow such awful political instincts could lead to catastrophic consequences for their movement and their party?
“Hysterical delusional affirmation” and “delusional synergy” aren’t terms normally associated with the political process, but after the spectacle of the past few weeks, they seem pretty apt. While many Republicans—those who are clear-eyed about today’s political realities—are exempt, these terms apply to enough of them that it may be time for the GOP’s Non-delusional Caucus to stage an intervention. Otherwise the party may be headed for some voter-administered therapy.
Read more here.
