Seats ‘in play’ now means GOP vs. GOP

Eric Erickson, a leading conservative voice in the blogosphere, is among those urging the tea party types to become emboldened, not disheartened, by the Republican “cave in” during the shutdown.

The editor-In-chief of RedState.com, Ericson told his readers in an email message that the true conservatives can now fight the Republican establishment with grassroots support, not with “Wall Street and K Street funders.”

He advised that groups like Heritage Action, Senate Conservatives Fund, Madison Project, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, For America, and others will provide funding for GOP primary fights.

“Men like Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, and others have preached a great sermon against Obamacare, but now conservatives who supported them see that these men have refused to actually practice what they’ve been preaching. They’ve refused to stand and fight with the rest of us,” Erickson wrote.

“… In reality, the GOP of a decade ago would never have fought like it has fought now. The party that gave us No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and TARP would never have stood for two weeks embarrassing Democrats with short term spending bills.”

The Senate leaders of the shutdown effort, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, failed to deliver a “death blow” to Obamacare, but they expose the Republican collaborators who are willing to work with the Democrats.

Here’s where it gets real interesting. Erickson offers a list of Senate Republicans that he believes should be targeted for defeat in the 2014 primaries. And he goes so far as to point out Senate seats that are “in play” – meaning the tea party could oust the incumbent Republican.

Here’s how he put it:

“… We must advance. Two Republicans in the Senate caused this fight that their colleagues would have surrendered on more quickly but for them. Imagine a Senate filled with more. We have an opportunity to replace Mitch McConnell in Kentucky with a better conservative. We should do that. We have the opportunity to send a strong conservative from North Carolina and we should do that. Same in Colorado. Kansas looks to be in play. Chris McDaniel will declare his candidacy for the Senate in Mississippi. Conservatives will rally to him quickly. Tennessee could be in play too.

“The establishment has given conservatives a brilliant opportunity to advance against them and then against the Democrats. As Obamacare now goes into full swing, conservatives can show that they tried to stop it while Mitch McConnell and so many others sat and watched from a cozy booth (at) the Capitol Hill Club, leaving the fighting to others while they did everything possible to undermine the fight.”

You can read the entire email message here.