Gatekeepers No More

A friend of ours recently asked us what seemed to be a simple question.  Why isn’t Rob Portman doing better?  The straightforward answer is of course that the candidate in question is a former Bush Administration official, running in a tough State, who has given the voters little or no reason to support him over the incumbent.  In fact, the only reason he is the Republican standard bearer is because the establishment crew of the Party chose him.

If that sounds familiar, perhaps it should.  Because it is, so far, the story of the 2010 election cycle for Republicans.  Unexciting candidates, selected by unexciting establishment types, who have little or nothing to say that an energized base and an invigorated set of conservatives wants to hear.

Spurred by our friend’s question, we took a look at some of the races so far.  A disturbing pattern has emerged in some places.  One in which the choice of the Republican establishment has either lost or survived a primary by such a modest margin as to be considered immediately vulnerable should they win in this cycle.

Let’s just take a quick look:

Texas.  Despite having a Tea Party candidate implode in the last 10 days of the election, Governor Perry, the incumbent, managed only 51.1% of the vote.

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