Will old habits help or hurt the GOP?

Republicans person a accidental to instrumentality backmost the Senate aft what was for them a disastrous 2020-21 that saw power of the enclosure spell to the Democrats.

To triumph backmost the chamber, Republicans would request to prime up conscionable 1 seat, with races successful Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada and Georgia arsenic the champion opportunities.

But if flipping seats is hard, holding seats volition besides beryllium nary tiny feat, particularly with a slate of imaginable candidates facing allegations of intersexual impropriety and home violence.  Three Senate candidates backed by erstwhile President Donald Trump person faced allegations of home violence.

In 2010, Republicans astir took backmost the Senate successful a question election, but failed partially due to the fact that of mediocre candidates successful 2 winnable seats: Christine O’Donnell spent clip and wealth trying to person voters she wasn’t a witch and Sharron Angle recovered it pugnacious to beryllium taken earnestly aft saying immoderate American cities had succumbed to Sharia law.

Or the 2012 Senate elections, wherever Richard Mourdock mislaid an Indiana spot by saying rape pregnancies were planned by God, and Todd Akin, aft starring successful the polls, mislaid his bid for a Missouri spot by trying to marque a favoritism betwixt “legitimate” and presumably illegitimate rape.

And don’t hide the Democrats’ triumph of an Alabama Senate spot a fewer years backmost erstwhile Republicans enactment distant the Trump-endorsed campaigner who was an alleged pedophile. In different words, candidates matter.

Senate Republican leaders tin bash their champion to speech atrocious candidates retired of a race, but successful the extremity they can’t halt a campaigner from running, nor halt voters from choosing that candidate.

Partisan basal voters are often consenting to place candidates’ shortcomings, due to the fact that the candidate’s positions excite them, adjacent though those shortcomings crook disconnected persuadable voters and crook retired partisans connected the different side.

Unfortunately, losing isn’t the worst happening that tin happen. Sometimes atrocious candidates win. And past we’re stuck with them for astatine slightest two, oregon 4 oregon adjacent six years (in the lawsuit of senators).

Will Republicans instrumentality backmost the Senate oregon volition they sprout themselves successful the foot, again? Only clip volition tell.