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As Digby noted, it seems the Republicans are now trying to kill the Frankenstein monster they created:

Karl Rove was instrumental in creating this monster. Now it's got a mind of its own.

It's hard to know how this will play out. The Tea Party is really just the re-branding of the far right of the Republican Party. But it may just be that the establishment made a mistake in doing that. They don't see themselves as Republicans anymore. They see themselves as a distinct movement that wants to explicitly run the Republican Party.

The wingnuts have always had real power within their Party but they didn't know it. Now they do. And they have spent the last 30 years having people like Karl Rove rev them up and expand their egos into believing they represent a majority of Americans and have a responsibility to hew to their principles no matter what. It was a good way to market conservatism. But it was never true.

Rove, Tea Party in GOP civil war:

As they try to pick up the pieces from last fall’s defeat, the establishment and Tea Party wings of the GOP are at each other’s throats.

Karl Rove, fresh off the multi-million dollar disaster that was 2012, has launched a new initiative, The New York Times reported Saturday. Known as the Conservative Victory Project, the group, a spin-off of Rove’s American Crossroads, will help recruit establishment Republicans, as well as defend Senate incumbents against challenges from more conservative candidates.

The aim, in a nutshell, is to push back against the Tea Party and bring the GOP’s nominating process back under the control of the party’s Washington power-brokers. In recent cycles, Tea Party-backed Senate candidates have won the Republican nomination over more moderate GOPers, only to be defeated in the general election. In several cases—think of Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” remarks—they’ve been done in thanks in part to campaign trail slip-ups that more seasoned candidates might have avoided.

But the news has triggered a full-blown revolt among conservative activists, both inside and outside Washington. Read on...

And here's more from Steve Benen: Welcoming the Conservative Victory Project to the field:

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Here we go again with Florida leading the way with more voter suppression -- Florida Early Voting Fiasco: Voters Wait For Hours At Polls As Rick Scott Refuses To Budge:

Once again, Florida and its problems at the polls are at the center of an election.

Early voting is supposed to make it easier for people to carry out their constitutional right. Tuesdays are notoriously inconvenient to take off work, so many states have given voters the option of turning out on weekends or other weekdays in the run-up to Election Day.

But in Florida this year, it has been a nightmare for voters, who have faced record wait times, long lines in the sun and a Republican governor, Rick Scott, who has refused to budge and extend early voting hours.

"People are getting out to vote. That's what's very good," said Scott.

People are getting out to vote -- but many of them are having to wait in line for three or four hours to do so. One contributor to DailyKos claimed it took 9 hours to vote. In Miami-Dade on Saturday, people who had gotten in line by 7:00 p.m. were allowed to vote; the last person wasn't checked in until 1 a.m., meaning it took some individuals six hours to cast a ballot.

"We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," said Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida.

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Former Republican presidential candidate New Gingrich lashed out Karl Rove on Sunday over the suggestion that Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) could be murdered to prevent Republicans from losing the Senate race in Missouri.

During a Thursday fundraiser for his conservative super PAC, Rove had joked that Republicans should find a way to end Akin's Senate bid after he suggested that women could not get pregnant through "legitimate rape."

“We should sink Todd Akin,” Rove said. “If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!”

Gingrich told an NBC panel on Sunday that it was a mistake to force Akin out of the race.

"Karl Rove said some terrible things on Friday for which he has apologized, which should remind us that people make mistakes," the former House Speaker explained.

"He was joking about if he shows up, he murdered someone," NBC host David Gregory noted.

"In the age of [former Arizona Rep.] Gabby Giffords it is not a joke to say that a member of congress ought to get murdered," Gingrich insisted.

"When a majority of the people in Missouri on Friday -- in the latest PPP poll -- said he should stay on the ticket -- a majority of Democrats, a majority of Republicans, a majority of independents. He won the primary. Now for Washington figures -- remember, the same Washington figures who last time wanted to kick off Marco Rubio for Charlie Crist, who will be in Charlotte [at the Democratic National Convention]. I just think that people ought to be a little cautious in saying the voters of Missouri don't count."

Gingrich is just the latest high-profile conservative to blast the Republican strategist over his remarks about Akin.

Over the weekend, anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly called for Rove to resign, saying his comments were "incredibly offensive and dangerous."

Fox News host Mike Huckabee, who has been one of Akin's top defenders, also cited Giffords when suggesting that conservatives should now shun Rove.

"In light of the attempted assassination of congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the remark was disturbing," Huckabee wrote on Saturday. "If Todd is continued to be alienated and Karl doesn’t suffer the same fate, then I will encourage all the activists I can to spend all their time, money, and effort in Missouri. If the party doesn’t want us, then I guess they don’t need us. Akin will. Janet and I are sending him the maximum we can under federal law."

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We can now add Gov. Transvaginal Ultrasound Bob McDonnell to the list of Republicans who are trying to pretend like there's some wiggle room in their extremist anti-abortion platform they just passed this week, which has no exceptions for rape or incest. If Republicans had wanted those exceptions, they'd be in the platform, period. They're not, but the personhood language is.

McDonnell and Blackburn and Priebus can tell the voters otherwise until they're blue in the face, but it's not going to change the fact that their party's platform is way to the right of where most Americans and even most Republicans are on the issue of abortion.

McDonnell: GOP Platform Doesn’t Make Judgment On Rape, Incest Exceptions:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Party's platform committee, said that the party's platform affirms their opposition to abortion and does not address the issue of exemptions in an interview on ABC's "This Week."

"George, you're just reading it wrong," McDonnell said to host George Stephanopoulos, who said he doesn't see an exception in the abortion plank. "That's been there for 30 years. There are multiple human life amendments that were introduced 20, 30 years ago. Some of them had exceptions, some of them didn't."

McDonnell reiterated his point: "The party didn't make any judgment on that. It's a general proposition to say we support human life. The rest of those details are up to the states and the people respectively, George, and that's simply not covered. It's something up to Congress and the states."

McDonnell's position is in line with how the RNC has been explaining their platform after it received a lot of attention this week in the wake of the Todd Akin controversy.

Full transcript below the fold.

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Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Wednesday criticized his successor, Gov. Rick Scott (R), and other Republicans for using "shameless" tactics that suppress voting rights, including requiring photo IDs, preventing felons from voting and purging voter rolls.

"The concern really is on sort of a closing the door on democracy," Crist told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "For example, they've already changed the policy as it relates to former, non-violent felons. We had established a policy where they would have their rights automatically restored, give them the opportunity to vote once they had served their time and paid their debt to society. ... That has now been changed under the new administration."

"In addition, they've also said that early voting -- which is a great tradition is Florida -- has been reduced from a 14-day period before the elections to eight days before, making it again more difficult for legal citizens to have their right to vote be heard."

Mitchell noted that Attorney General Eric Holder had recently compared voter photo ID requirements to Jim Crow laws, telling the NAACP that they were the equivalent of "poll taxes."

"He's on the right track," the former governor agreed. "Anytime that you put more impediments into a citizen's right -- a legal citizen's right to vote and make that more difficult, you impede the natural right of democracy and a citizen's right to have their voice heard in important elections."

"It's just plain wrong," he added.

(h/t: Talking Points Memo)

Post and title stolen borrowed completely from John Cook at Gawker.com.

American genius David Byrne recently settled his copyright complaint against former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who used a Talking Heads song without permission in his U.S. Senate campaign, by making Crist film this 90-second abject apology and post it to YouTube.

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During the Florida debate for the US Senate on CNN's State of the Union, the two Republicans in the race both carried some water for the Bush administration and agreed that the United States is better off because of our invasion of Iraq. I wonder if the Iraqis think they're better off boys?

SMITH: Mr. Rubio, is -- is America safer and better off for having gone to war in Iraq?

RUBIO: I think the answer ultimately is yes. First of all, the world is better off because Saddam Hussein is no longer in charge in Iraq. And I think we have to remind ourselves of that, is that the world is a better and safer place because Saddam Hussein no longer is in charge of that country.

Let's understand one thing. Right now, we are worried about Iran possessing a nuclear weapon. Well, if Saddam Hussein was still there, and you know the relationship and the long history between Iraq and Iran, you'd have two nations in a full-blown arms war, the way you've seen, for example, between Pakistan and India.

So the world is a better and safer place, and not to mention the Iraqi people are better off than they were under Saddam Hussein. There's no doubt that Iraq has a long way to go. You know, there are a lot of issues that that society and that that nation-state faces. But it is better off today than it was when Saddam Hussein...

SMITH: Mr. Meek, same question.

MEEK Well, I would tell you this. There was a no-fly zone prior to going into Iraq. It was a war that was brought about based on falsehoods and not on fact. And also, there are a number of American lives that have lost -- have been lost.

Saying that, those sacrifices that have been made, I think it's very, very important to note that the international community must continue to stay involved in Iraq. The biggest embassy in the world, the U.S. embassy, is in Iraq right now because of the Bush doctrine. I think it's important to note that I understand the situation as it relates to the world being safer because we went into Iraq. I couldn't necessarily give you that overall blanket "yes" on that because it was a lot of...

SMITH: You think we'd be better off if we hadn't gone in?

MEEK: Well, I think we would have been better off if we would have looked at diplomatic solutions and wouldn't have been lied to by the Bush administration. I think it's -- I think a number of American lives could have been saved and this could have been a different world if we would have gave diplomacy an opportunity.

CRIST: I think the world is a safer place because of the action we took in Iraq. And I also think it's right of the administration to do what we're doing right now in Afghanistan.

And one of the best things and the best parts of that policy is the appointment of General David Petraeus to lead our troops on the ground in this conflict.

The number one function of our government is to have safety and security for the people of our country, to make sure that we're safe on our shores, that we do what's right to maintain order in our society.

And I think that the administration is on a path to try to do that, and General Petraeus is exactly the right guy to lead us there. So I compliment the commander in chief for doing so.

But we've got to keep our eye on Iran. The speaker is right. I agree that we have to be sure that we're monitoring what's happening there. I am very proud, as governor of Florida, that we signed the first divestment act, as it relates to Iran, divesting any investments in companies that would invest in Iran, because we support Israel so strongly here in this state and this country.

We have a unique, unbreakable bond with the state of Israel, between the state of Florida and our country. It's why my first trade mission was to Israel, as governor of Florida. And I went there with Robert Wexler, whose support I'm proud to have in this race for the U.S. Senate, a great former congressman from South Florida.

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Sen. Lamar Alexander tries to explain to David Gregory why he thinks Charlie Crist making an independent run for the Senate in Florida is destroying our democracy, but what Joe Lieberman did was okay in his book. This is some seriously twisted logic here. We'll see if he's still singing the same tune if Charlie Crist ends up winning that Senate seat.

GREGORY: We've had a lot of breaking news here, so--and still a lot of issues to get to. We'll get to as much as we can on a busy Sunday morning. I do want to start with politics.

Senator Alexander, you didn't get a commitment from the governor of Florida, who's now a Republican, to caucus with Republicans. And the leadership, of which you're a part, has said, "Thanks but no thanks." You don't want much association with Governor Crist at the moment.

ALEXANDER: Well, when he changed his mind, I changed my mind about him. I'm very disappointed by that. I mean, it really undermines the ability of people to participate in our, our, our politics. We've got a lot of alienated people in America right now. They want a place to have their say. So we say, "Come on in to our primary if you want to put a check and a balance on runaway government." So he did, and now he says, "I'm not doing so well by the rules, so I'm going to go another direction." That's what primaries are for.

GREGORY: But why--you know, when Senator Lieberman ran as an independent, the Democratic Party did not push him away. They said, "No, we're still, still--stay with us here." And yet the Republican leadership has said, "No thanks, Governor." You know, "We've changed our mind about you," as you just said. Is that a right strategy?

ALEXANDER: Senator Lieberman was different. First, he ran as an independent at the same time he was running as a Democrat. Second, he had a very strong principled opposition to the Iraq war. And third, the Democratic leadership in that case said that they didn't, they didn't support him. So Marco Rubio has shown to the people of Florida that he's a better candidate than Governor Crist, apparently, and Governor Crist has said, "I'm not doing too well by these rules. I think I'll try some other rules."

For your listening pleasure, it's time for the weekly Driftglass and Bluegal podcast.

You can listen to past editions here and at http://dgbgpodcast.blogspot.com/, and the podcast is also available on i-Tunes. If you enjoy these as much as I do and would like to help keep them going, throw five bucks in the hat below. I know they appreciate any feedback on the podcasts as well, so send them a note with your thoughts or questions and it might be included in their next broadcast.

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After Chris Wallace points out that Marco Rubio if elected may be considered the first "Tea Party senator" and that he has Grover Norquist's stamp of approval for his stance on taxes, but reads an email from a Tea Party activist that says Rubio has refused to "be vetter" by their group.

Rubio responds by saying that the Tea Party movement "has been mischaracterized in the press as some sort of an organization" and says it's just a "broad based group of every day Americans from all walks of life" and that most of the people attending have never been involved in politics.

While that may be true of many of the people attending, it's the same cannot be said of the people organizing the group. I wonder if Rubio thinks Dick Armey and Tim Phillips have never been involved in politics before? These industry funded astroturf groups that are paying to drive these people around the country in buses are anything but grass roots or detached from the interests of the Republican Party. Since they're also supported by Fox News and their leader Glenn Beck, we're never going to see Chris Wallace point that out though.