What’s Ahead in Politics in 2014 – Molly Ball – The Atlantic

I don’t always agree with Molly Ball, but I’m always glad I read her columns.

What’s going to happen in the primaries? 2013 saw new tensions flare up between Republican elites, many of whom believe the party needs to moderate if it wants to win the presidency again, and the far right, which disagrees. The proving ground for this battle for control of the GOP will be the primaries, where Tea Partiers have made such an indelible mark in recent years by elevating maximally conservative candidates, even when they were unqualified and unpalatable to a general-election audience. Of the 12 incumbent Republican senators up for reelection, seven face primary challenges, from Liz Cheney taking on Wyoming’s Mike Enzi to a Kentucky businessman’s crusade against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Most of the challengers look unlikely—but that’s how they looked at this point in 2010, before many surged to victory on a wave of Tea Party fervor. Open-seat races in Georgia and Iowa are also shaping up as free-for-alls. Taken together, the results will show whether the Tea Party is still winning the Republican civil war—or whether the establishment has stepped up to beat it back.

via What’s Ahead in Politics in 2014 – Molly Ball – The Atlantic.