Often biased, always thoughtful.

The Shrinking GOP: Will Mark Olson’s endorsement fracture the MNGOP?

They’ve been falling apart nationally, and now the Republicans are starting to fall apart in Minnesota, too. MNGOP leaders who were hoping for a quick and painless resolution to the SD-16 endorsement of Mark Olson, who was convicted of domestic assault, are going to be disappointed.

Political Muse at Liberal in the Land of Conservative reports that, despite MNGOP leadership’s best efforts, Olson will not be going down quietly. This is particularly bad news for them because the fact is that denouncing Olson was a great move for the Republicans. In fact, it was the only move that would allow them to continue their attacks on Franken, in a race that’s a much bigger deal than the SD-16 state senate race.

But now comes the dissension in the ranks. Jason Lewis, noted talk-radio lunatic, supports Olson (via Dump Mark Olson and MnPublius):

I can’t tell you how shocked I was to see the letter from the Senate State Caucus basically insulting all the state delegates that came to our convention and made their decision. Saying “No, you people are too stupid. You’re just country hicks. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

More from Lewis:

This is the pinnacle of elitism. A bunch of elitist, Republican party hacks have gotten together and decided to override your choice. That’s what rubs me the wrong way. [ed. note: see the Conservative-to-English dictionary; "elitist" is a catch-all term for anyone disagreeing with whatever you deem public opinion.]

There’s one simple reason why this is a huge deal: It represents a major breakdown in Republican message discipline and party unity. That’s always been one of their largest strengths, and one I have argued the Democrats need to improve on. With Republican message discipline starting to fall apart in Minnesota, it’s going to cause serious consequences up and down the line in state elections. The more Mark Olson fights for his survival, the further he’ll pull the whole MNGOP down with him.