Republicans who went home on Easter Recess had a rough week, even if they hid out from their constituents. Politico reports on this "disaster for Republicans":
...1.5 million petition signatures have been sent to Congress to act on Garland (#DoYourJob), including 42,000 to Judiciary Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
“While many Senate Republicans ... have gone into hiding and chosen not to hold any public town hall meetings over recess, they still got a taste of what they would hear in their local newspapers,” ...[T]here have been over 420 editorials calling on the GOP to let Garland get a hearing and vote.
The main stumbling block appears to be astroturf Teaparty groups with their threats of primarying vulnerable Senators. Like in Kansas. (Yeah.)
Senator Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas, faced a barrage of criticism from conservative groups on Friday after he broke with his party’s leadership by saying he favored holding hearings on President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court.
A founder of the Tea Party Patriots, Jenny Beth Martin, threatened to encourage a primary challenge against Mr. Moran, saying that grass-roots conservatives were “furious” with his stance. The reaction from that group and others made it clear that they will tolerate no concessions in the court battle, even as Democrats characterize Republicans’ actions as an unprecedented dereliction of their constitutional obligation.
Here's an idea, Republican establishment: make it EASIER for people to vote in your state's primary, rather than leaving it to the mere hardcore right to crawl from their Tea Party sewer over to the ballot box. You might find moderates prevail the more people are encouraged to participate in the process. April Fool! Of course the Koch Brothers won't let you do that, so you're stuck sucking up to the crazies or losing your job. Just don't pretend you didn't make this bed, because you did.
PS. to our readers:
Be sure to find your Senator's twitter feed and Facebook pages this weekend, and tell them to #DoYourJob.
