Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio,Ted Cruz, Karl Rove and the GOP civil war

Establishment Republicans, with whom I agree about this, view the recalcitrants as threatening to destroy the GOP with obstructionist stands that would lower the already low brand standing of the GOP.

{mosads}Meanwhile the name-calling between Paul and Christie gets worse by the hour. I will say the attack by Paul against Christie over Hurricane Sandy relief is a) a low point among many low points for the right, and b) a sign that Sen. Paul has some temper issues that will get him in big trouble sooner or later.

Paul loses his cool under pressure, though he also brings out the worst slugger tendencies in Christie, which will not help the Christie brand if this continues.

Meanwhile there is a GOP civil war between the neocon wing, including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on military issues, and the libertarian wing, including Paul, which tends toward isolationism. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) seems to be having a civil war with himself, sometimes playing the statesman as he does on immigration, sometimes playing the obstructionist when he panders to the far right on healthcare.

And there is a civil war in Wyoming between the hyper-ambitious Liz Cheney and the highly respected Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) who I have already predicted in The Hill will crush the semi-carpetbagger Cheney, whose ties to Wyoming have only risen in proportion to her ambition for office.

This Wyoming civil war is an early preview of primary civil wars that will split the GOP throughout the 2014 campaign. 

Not to be outdone, if you don’t yet have your scoreboard, the ubiquitous Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has declared civil war against everyone except himself. Cruz, whose 15 minutes of fame are half over, attacks liberals, attacks Democrats, attacks conservatives who don’t meet his standards, and attacks GOP members of the House and Senate while Christie attacks libertarians, who attack neoconservatives, while both neocons and libertarians attack establishment Republicans, who beg Karl Rove to raise money.

There is so much mud being thrown by Republicans against other Republicans that the GOP could raise funds by selling raincoats. These guys make Anthony Weiner look normal!