THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH OF A SCHISM

I think we're supposed to regard this as a sign of serious tension on the right, but I have my doubts:

Facebook turns on Sarah Palin

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin's endorsement of Carly Fiorina in California's Senate race has prompted a fervent blowback on her Facebook page, long Palin's safe haven for delivering her message.

The revolt is coming from Palin supporters who also back Chuck DeVore -- a tea party favorite who is campaigning against Fiorina in the Republican primary.

Palin's Facebook page is littered with comments opposing her endorsement of Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard....

Um, yeah -- but I'm looking at the comments in response to Palin's post and most of the critical ones are extremely mild:

Can't abide with you on this one Sarah...Chuck DeVour is the best candidate...some of your endorsements are nerve wracking...but you still have my support...stay on the straight path.

****

I love you Sarah but you are 100% wrong on this one....


****

Sarah, Fiorina is no conservative.... As a Californian who spent a few seasons as a Kuparuk Rivermouth roughneck in the '60s, I ask you to look a little deeper.


Beyond that, there's plenty of gushing support for Palin ("Your doing great work Sarah!!! God bless ya!"), as well as, yes, some anger ("I will now not support Palin in any way shape or form in 2012!! This lousy endorsement of Fiorina really did it for me!!"), but come on, this is the Internet -- where's the creative gutter language? Where's the withering contempt? Ah, here it is -- directed at Palin's critics:

I'll vote for and contribute my money to the campaign to elect Carly Fiorina. Dave, you rail-car vomit breath, take your weepy sour grapes valley-girl monthly pain somewhere else....

I say this is a mild dust-up. It's not going to cause a real split. Palin is a rock star, and true fans forgive rock stars for pretty much everything -- become fat and pill-addicted and dying on the mansion toilet, sleeping with little boys, whatever. They forgive or at least go into serious denial. So this will be forgotten.

Though there's more at play here than Palin's superstar status. I think teabagger/Republican differences are greatly exaggerated. Sure, the 'baggers are fervently supporting their purer-than-thou candidates over some establishment Republicans (and results from this past Tuesday suggest that the 'bagger candidates aren't doing so well) -- but that's what's going on now. November is going to be different.

Trust me on this: In November, teabaggers are going to vote for establishment Republicans and establishment Republicans are going to vote for teabaggers. We already know that the latter is true -- we've seen the rush by the establishment to support Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. I'm saying that shared Obama-hate is going to keep the teabaggers from drifting away. They'll vote GOP.

They'll vote GOP because the GOP will have distilled the most potent rhetorical tropes of the tea party movement and will be selling them back to the 'baggers, just like cynical record executives mining the safest aspects of early rock and roll and selling them back to the kids in Pat Boone's white bucks.

I know, I know -- Gallup says that Republican voters' enthusiasm advantage is shrinking. And Beck's ratings are way down. Well, I hope all that continues -- but I wouldn't count on it. When we're approaching the homestretch, I'm assuming the right-wing Wurlitzer is going to kick into high gear. Anger will be ginned up. Obama outrages will be discovered (and, in many cases, invented). I believe we're just in a lull period. I think if you want a real reversal of it, the White House and Democrats have to do some popular things, and the economy has to get a lot better a lot faster. Failing that, I'd say reports of the wingnut insurgency's decline are greatly exaggerated.