But conversations with conservative activists, GOP operatives, and people close to Bannon and the White House suggest that the Breitbart executive chair is engaged in a bold, ambitious project that has a relatively clear vision. He doesn’t just want to destroy the old Republican establishment — he wants to build a new one. [...]
He’s exactly the sort of senator Bannon wants gone. Indeed, the only Republican senator on the ballot in 2018 whom Bannon wants to return is Ted Cruz, whom he’s deemed sufficiently anti-leadership and anti-establishment. Everyone else in the party running — everyone else happy to work closely with Mitch McConnell — is a target. Besides Wicker, they are Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Barrasso (R-WY), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), should the 83-year-old choose to run again. [...]
It’s a bold strategy, and a risky one. Successful Senate primary challenges are rare. In hundreds of Senate elections since 2003, a mere six incumbents running again have lost renomination — and two of them, Joe Lieberman and Lisa Murkowski, ended up winning their general elections anyway. And there is of course the added risk that a more extreme primary victor could lose the general election to a Democrat, as McConnell has warned. [...]
But while Bannon is reportedly encouraging Senate challengers to support ending the legislative filibuster, something that would make legislation easier to pass, there’s an element of opportunism to his critique too. In most cases, replacing leadership-loyal generic Republican senators with independent outsiders would likely make it harder for the Senate to get bills to Trump’s desk, not easier.
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