The repugican cabal is as divided and angry as ever

The repugican cabal is as divided and angry as ever.

Infighting has penetrated the highest levels of the House repugican leadership. Long-standing geographic tensions have increased, pitting endangered Northeastern repugicans against their colleagues from other parts of the country. Enraged tea party leaders are threatening to knock off dozens of repugicans who supported a measure that raised taxes on the nation's highest earners.

"People are mad as hell. I'm right there with them," Amy Kremer, chairman of the tea party express, said late last week, declaring that she has "no confidence" in the party her members typically support. Her remarks came after repugican lawmakers agreed to higher taxes but no broad spending cuts as part of a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

"Anybody that voted 'yes' in the House should be concerned" about primary challenges in 2014, she said.

At the same time, one of the repugican cabal's most popular voices, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, blasted his cabal's "toxic internal politics" after House repugicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was "disgusting to watch" their actions and he faulted the repugican cabal's most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, r-Ohio.

The repugican cabal's internal struggles to figure out what it wants to be were painfully exposed after Mitt Romney's loss to President Barack Obama on Nov. 6, but they have exploded in recent days. The fallout could extend well beyond the party's ability to win policy battles on Capitol Hill. It could hamper repugicans as they examine how to regroup and attract new voters after a disheartening election season.

To a greater degree than the Democrats, the repugican cabal has struggled with internal divisions for the past few years. But these latest clashes have seemed especially public and vicious.

"It's disappointing to see infighting in the cabal," said Ryan Williams, a repugican agitator and former Romney aide. "It doesn't make us look like we're in a position to challenge the president and hold him accountable to the promises he made."
What's largely causing the dissension? A lack of a clear repugican leader with a single vision for the party.

The repugicans haven't had a consistent standard-bearer since the shrub slunk out of office in 2008 with the nation on the edge of a financial collapse. His ouster, along with widespread economic concerns, gave rise to a tea party movement that infused the repugican cabal's lunatic wingnut base with energy. The tea party is credited with broad repugican gains in the 2010 congressional elections, but it's also blamed for the rising tension between the pragmatic and ideological wings of the cabal — discord that festers still.

It was much the same for Democrats in the late 1980s before Bill Clinton emerged to win the White House and shift his party to the political center.
2012 presidential nominee Romney never fully captured the hearts of his party's most passionate voters. But his tenure atop the party was short-lived; since Election Day, he's disappeared from the political world.

Those repugican leaders who remain engaged — Christie, Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and repugican national cabal talking head Reince Priebus — are showing little sign of coming together.

Those on the repugican cabal's deep bench of potential 2016 presidential contenders, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have begun staking out their own, sometimes conflicting ideas for the party.

Over the short term at least, the cabal's divisions probably will continue to be exposed.
Obama has outlined a second-term agenda focused on immigration and gun control; those are issues that would test repugican solidarity even in good times. Deep splits already exist between repugican pragmatists and the lunatic wingnut base, who oppose any restrictions on guns or allowances for illegal immigrants.

It's unclear whether Obama can exploit the repugican fissures or whether the repugican dysfunction will hamper him. With Boehner unable to control his fractured caucus, the White House is left wondering how to deal with the House on any divisive issue.

Fiscal issues aren't going away, with lawmakers were agree on a broad deficit-reduction package. The federal government reached its borrowing limit last week, so Congress has about two months or three months to raise the debt ceiling or risk a default on federal debt. Massive defense and domestic spending cuts are set to take effect in late February. By late March, the current spending plan will end, raising the possibility of a government shutdown.

Frustrated lunatic wingnut agitators and repugican cabal insiders hope that the continued focus on fiscal matters will help unite the factions as the cabal pushes for deep spending cuts. That fight also may highlight Democratic divisions because the party's liberal wing vehemently opposes any changes to Social Security or Medicare

"Whenever you lose the White House, the party's going to have ups and downs," said Republican strategist Ron Kaufman. "My guess is when the spending issues come up again, the Democrats' warts will start to show as well."

The repugican cabal's fissures go beyond positions on issues. They also are geographical.

Once a strong voice in the party, moderate repugicans across the Northeast are nearly extinct. Many of those who remain were frustrated in recent days when Boehner temporarily blocked a vote on a disaster relief bill.

Rep. Peter King, r-N.Y., said campaign donors in the Northeast who give the repugican cabal after the slight "should have their head examined."

Boehner, who just won a second term as speaker, quickly scheduled a vote on a narrower measure for Friday after the new Congress convened, and it rushed out a $9.7 billion measure to help pay flood insurance claims.

Weary repugican terrorists are trying to be hopeful about the repugican cabal's path ahead, and liken the current situation to party's struggles after Obama's 2008 election. At the time, some pundits questioned the viability of the repugican cabal. But it came roaring back two years later, thanks largely to the tea party.

"If we have learned anything from the fiscal cliff fiasco, conservatives discovered we need to stand firm, and stand together, on our principles from beginning to end," said repugican terrorist Alice Stewart. "It's frustrating to see the repugican cabal drop the ball and turn a position of true compromise into total surrender. The Democrats succeeded in their strategy of divide and conquer."