A story today by Karoun Demirjian of the Las Vegas Sun explores Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s divide-and-conquer strategy of praising House Speaker John Boehner in an effort separate him from the tea party activists pushing Republicans further to the right on budget issues, including a few Muth’s Truths:
“Reid isn’t the first to notice a fissure in Republican ranks, but by targeting it, he’s betting that House Republicans will use the Democrats’ invitation as a way to escape the pressure of their Tea Party wing, opening the door to more compromises. ‘He’s trying to drive the wedge … and some Republicans will fall for it every single time,’ said Chuck Muth, a conservative strategist in Nevada…
“Although Reid’s pat-on-the-back political absolution could help gain Republicans centrists in a general election, his blessings could be poison in a primary. ‘If I’m a candidate for Congress, and somehow I’m able to show that one of my opponents was praised by Harry Reid in a Republican primary, that could be very bad,’ Muth said. ‘It’s very Machiavellian of Reid.’”
Read the full story here
