THE NEW TWO-PARTY SYSTEM, ACCORDING TO OUR HORSERACE-OBSESSED PRESS: REPUBLICANS VS. REPUBLICANS

Here are four stories that appeared at Politico, The Hill, and The New York Times just this weekend. First, from The Hill:

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s (R) endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Jane Timken could alter the dynamics of the state’s crowded GOP primary and give Timken a needed boost.

Portman, who is retiring next year, on Wednesday offered Timken the race’s most high-profile endorsement to date....

“This is the most significant thing that has happened in the Senate race. Period. End of discussion,” said one Republican operative involved in Ohio politics.

Some strategists are also asking if Portman’s endorsement could foreshadow a potential endorsement from former President Trump.

“That is the hottest rumor in Ohio right now,” state Sen. Michael Rulli (R ), who has endorsed Timken, said. “If that happens, in my humble opinion, Jane would lock it up.”

This follows a lengthy Politico profile of Josh Mandel, the front-runner in that GOP Senate primary in Ohio, which ran on Friday.

Also from The Hill:

GOP Sen. John Boozman (Ark.) voted with former President Trump more than 91 percent of the time and snapped up an early 2022 endorsement and a donation from his PAC.

But as Boozman seeks a third term for his reliably red Senate seat, his primary opponents are coming after him by trying to paint themselves, and not the 71-year-old, as the real Trump candidate....

Jake Bequette, a former NFL player, is viewed as the biggest primary challenger for Boozman, who is still the front-runner in the race.

[Arkansas GOP strategist Robert] Coon said, “I wouldn't be sounding alarm bells yet, but I would definitely be taking this seriously” ...

At Politico, there's this:

Timothy Ramthun’s entry into Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary last weekend was the car wreck no one could look away from.

His campaign is built around the preposterous idea the 2020 election could still be overturned — something even sympathetic Republicans here acknowledge is impossible.... His three-hour campaign kickoff featured the appearance of Mike Lindell, the pillow salesperson and conspiracy theorist....

The entire party has been erupting on a near-daily basis here. In recent weeks, several county parties have called on the state’s longtime Republican Assembly speaker, Robin Vos, to resign, accusing one of Wisconsin’s most reliable conservatives of doing too little to pursue baseless claims the 2020 election was rigged. Other local party leaders are objecting to — or considering ignoring — the state party’s endorsement process in critical midterm elections, arguing it’s exclusionary....

It’s an unusual level of dysfunction for a state party that not so long ago was regarded as a model for conservatism nationally.

Which complements this New York Times story:

... more than 15 months after former President Donald J. Trump lost [Wisconsin] by 20,682 votes, an increasingly vocal segment of the Republican Party is getting behind a new scheme: decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in hopes of reinstalling Mr. Trump in the White House....

The situation in Wisconsin may be the most striking example of the struggle by Republican leaders to hold together their party when many of its most animated voters simply will not accept the reality of Mr. Trump’s loss.

Is there still a Democratic Party in America? There was last time I checked, but Democrats seem to be invisible in all this horserace coverage. I know this is a year when Republicans are likely to win most of the close ones and Democrats are expected to get thumped across the country, but the press seems uninterested in Democratic contests, although we're frequently told that Democrats have an unusually large number of retirements. Are there any hot primaries in those districts with open seats? Are any interesting Democrats challenging incumbents anywhere else? If so, I'm not hearing much about it.

Well, America will probably be a one-party illiberal pseudo-democracy in a few years. It's good to know that our political press will still find ways to keep the horserace journalism tradition alive, by focusing on agitiation within America's only electable party.