Do Republicans Really Have A Lock In The Mid-Terms ?

     The stale wind of complacency, and the over-active imagination of wishful thinking, have lately been rushing over those on the Right in gale force. Even some stalwart Conservative radio talk show hosts seem to suggest that Republicant control of both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate is just a matter of academics, and this Fall's mid-term elections are just a formality. They site waning support for the president, national disgust with ObamaCare, and a sluggish-at-best economy that just can not seem to shift out of neutral. Not to mention the historically low voter turnout for the party in control of the White House during mid-term elections.
     The preceding are all valid points, and yet they still do not make me any more sanguine about the Republicants chances for attaining a majority in the Senate, and holding onto as large of a majority in the House. Primary to my trepidation about the mid-terms is the fact that in the last 10 years Democrats have bested Republicants in every national election except 2010. In that year, the Tea Party was responsible for John Boehner and his troupe of misfits succeeding in wresting control of the House away from Nancy Pelosi and her band of merry socialists. The recent passage of ObamaCare motivated traditional Republicant voters to show up at the polls and elect those representatives who promised to repeal the nasty thing.
     During the past four years, John Boehner and the rest of his Democrat-lites in the House, and their counterparts in the Senate, have disenfranchised many of those voters who gave them control of half the congress. Added to this is the Republicant establishment's constant attacks, snarky comments, and downright public distaste for the Tea Party, who gave them their only national electoral victory of the last decade. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
     As for the effects of ObamaCare on the Democrat party, it has become ensconced in the fabric of American public life. Many Americans are now dependent on its subsidies and will not vote against their own self-interest in favor of the larger ideal of limited government. This was the danger of the Republicant establishment not supporting those like Ted Cruz who sought to stop ObamaCare before the spigot of federal subsidies was activated. Now it will be near impossible, not only to repeal ObamaCare, but for Republicants to win elections being opposed to it. Because, they run the risk of alienating their own voters if they do not oppose ObamaCare, and alienating everyone else if they do.
     Some on the Right have become giddy with examples of main stream media sources being critical of the Obama regime. This breaking-of-the-ranks by some on the Left is seen as weakness in the Democrat party. But in actuality it is just a slavish media trying to salvage some remnants of the thread of credibility they possessed before they blindly played a major role in electing Barack Obama twice. Once the 2016 presidential campaign commences, most likely the day after the mid-terms, the media will once again be extolling the "virtues" of the Democrat candidate and manufacturing dirt on the Republicant.
      For Republicants to win control of the Senate and keep control of the House, they must distinguish themselves from the Democrats. They must become what Ronald Reagan termed as a party that "Raises the banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all issues troubling the people." The Tea Party contingent, along with other Conservatives in the Republicant party, wish to paint broadly with bold colors. Unfortunately the establishment wishes to lead the party down the path of pale pastels that make electoral victory much less likely.