Establishment and tea party Republicans can comb through the results of Tuesday’s Texas primaries and find something to feel good about. But the real story out of Texas this winter is the degree to which the most conservative wing of the party is ascendant. This is not the same party that brought George W. Bush to the governor’s office 20 years ago. …
Republicans nationally continue to debate what the right strategy to win a presidential election is — offering an even bolder conservative agenda or looking for ways to soften the edges in hopes of peeling away parts of President Obama’s coalition of women, minorities, younger voters and those with college and post-graduate degrees.
There’s no such debate in Texas, where Republican candidates play primarily to their base. With no worries for now about winning general elections, all the incentives push them to the right. Their impulse is to out-conservative their opponents. CONT.
Dan Balz, Washington Post