Republican strategist Mike Murphy chided what he called "the stupid wing of the Republican Party." "There's tension and there ought to be a questioning of whether we ought to listen to such bad advice," Murphy said when asked about the influence of conservative groups. "We took a huge brand hit. It's self-inflicted. ... I'm glad there are no elections tomorrow." (snip) "I don't want to go down this road again," [Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.] said in an interview with The Associated Press, noting that she disagreed with congressional conservatives' tactics during the budget fight. "What we take from this experience is that there are obviously common-sense problem solvers, and that's where the party needs to be."

Good times for the GOP:Nicer than Murphy, Ayotte only implied that Tea Party Republicans lack common sense. I guess that's a little less harsh than calling them stupid.

Wait, there's more. Senator Orrin Hatch strongly criticized groups on the right that “aren’t even Republicans but who think they can control the Republican Party."

Hatch then spoke about the "radicalness" of some of these groups, and when Chuck Todd asked if he was referring to the Heritage Foundation, led by former Senator Jim DeMint, Hatch said "well, yeah." He added that he and many other Republicans are asking whether Heritage has become "so political" that it’s "in danger of losing it’s clout and its power."

As for Murphy's comment, I think we all remember the line from Forrest Gump about stupidity, right?