The Republican roster for Senate includes a woman who's essentially called for the majority leader's assassination, an evangelist on a crusade against masturbation and a congressman's scion who's questioned the need for the Civil Rights Act.





Those candidates would be Sharron Angle of Nevada, Christine O'Donnell of Delaware and Rand Paul of Kentucky, respectively.

And all of them have a good shot at winning, thanks to the looming Republican tide. Angle and Paul defeated GOP establishment candidates in their primaries. O'Donnell is armed with Sarah Palin's endorsement in her upcoming primary against U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, a Delaware institution.

Seriously, how in the world did the GOP end up with such crazy characters?

There are plenty of intelligent conservatives who support the party platform on abortion, taxes and national defense. But a disturbing number of candidates this fall have dabbled in conspiracy theories like questioning the president's birth certificate, including Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski, who's hoping to knock off U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township).

Funny, there's been a dearth of Democratic candidates calling for armed revolution of the proletariat or claiming that 9/11 was an inside job.

But the answer for Republicans is clear: Why not?

For one thing, Republicans are utterly confident that they're going to take back the House and possibly the Senate. They'll also score big in governor's races.

So even if fringe candidates slip through primaries -- like Joe Miller, the GOP's Alaskan Senate nominee who believes Social Security needs to be phased out -- they still have a great shot in November.

Sure, sometimes it doesn't quite work out. The Republicans could have had another vote against health care if they'd kept the conservative 23rd New York congressional seat in a special election last year. But

by taking on the GOP nominee, thus giving the Dems another seat.

But that's a risk that the far right is willing to take. Groups like the anti-tax Club for Growth and the Dick Armey-run Freedom Works' money-making machine, The Tea Party Express, would rather only have the purest of right-wingers in office, even if it inevitably means less Republicans winning.

More moderate candidates almost always do better in general elections. Rick Snyder has trounced Virg Bernero by double digits in every poll since the primary. Think it would be that close if it was West Michigan conservative U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra vs. moderate Democrat House Speaker Andy Dillon? Think again.

But in a year like this one, why not gamble on some extreme candidates? There's not as much to lose.

Then there are the Tea Partiers. We can all agree now that their faint protest that they're an independent movement is bunk. As Gene Clem, head of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots, announced on

, the goal is to take over the Republican Party.

Judging from raucous GOP conventions in Michigan and across the country, they've largely succeeded. The TPers are pushing Republicans even further right. They haven't won every battle, but they've been able to take out incumbents like Bob Bennett in Utah for the heresy of even smiling at Democratic colleague. That just won't stand.

The lesson for Republicans is clear: Pandering to the Tea Partiers pays off. So why not throw them a bone and muse that Barack Obama was probably born in Kenya. Oh, boo-hoo, the

New York Times

will point out you're nuts. But you'll clean up from the right in your next money bomb.

Let's face it. Republicans have been chest-thumping about their inevitable victory in 2010 pretty much since Obama took the oath of office (on a Bible, not a Koran, Crazy). History is on their side; the president's party typically loses seats in off-year elections. Combined with a dismal economy, it's clear that the Democrats will take a beating this fall.

The R's are convinced that this is a repudiation of Obama, health care, the stimulus and liberalism in general. Whenever Democrats win, Republicans attribute it to the American public's temporary insanity (or ACORN stealing the election!). They'll soon realize the error of their ways, just as they did in 1994.

That self-serving analysis ignores the fact that Democratic corruption in their more than 40 years controlling Congress was the key factor in the Republican Revolution of '94. Just like the R's blithely pretend that the Great Recession isn't the main reason they're likely to win this year.

But that arrogance keeps GOPers from any kind of self-reflection. If they were to do some soul-searching, they might question their strategy of appealing to old white people with scare tactics of nonexistent death panels, since these folks won't be around forever. And they might reconsider their hard-right turn on immigration since the Bush II days, given the fact that Latinos are the fastest-growing group and America is on the brink of becoming a majority-minority country.

Republicans also might acknowledge that their agenda is pretty darn unpopular, from cutting or eliminating entitlements like Social Security and Medicare (sorry, Grandma) to supporting an open-ended war in Iraq.

None of this bodes well for the long-term success of the GOP. But leaders right now are just giddy at the idea of regaining power, for however short a time.

When Republicans lose, they don't get demoralized. They get pissed. Win or lose for Democrats, they seem to slink away. One of the biggest reasons why the Dems are in for a bloodbath is that the party's base is planning to stay home.

Sure, Obama managed to get a stimulus plan, national health care reform and Wall Street reform passed in less than two years' time. But it's not enough, liberal activists whine. Why should we bother? Besides, think about all the cool blog posts we can write pwning Speaker John Boehner. The dude's orange!

Brilliant strategists on both sides, clearly. The 112th Congress should be an interesting one.

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