Erick Erickson vs. Kurt Schlichter: Two quite different conservative takes on this election's significance

Writing at Politico, Erickson sounds downright dismissive of any notion that a big Pub victory would signal an opportunity to halt post-America's doom spiral:

The message from Washington’s Republican elite is no longer that government is the problem, but that Democrats in charge of government are the problem. That might work in 2014, but it’s not going to carry the day in the next presidential election. Republicans cannot make the case that government is the problem when they covet the power of controlling it to the extent they do.

This election cycle is only the latest iteration of an old story by which Republican consultants and establishment types have gotten rich and, in doing so, have impoverished the conservative movement—all the while losing important elections that could determine the future of our country. In 2008 the Democrats brought in a fresh face not of Washington as their nominee, while the Republicans reached all the way back to 2000, had a replay of the same old fights, then nominated their own establishment candidate, John McCain, who happened to have been the loser in the 2000 primary struggle. He lost again.

The events of 2012 amounted to a recycling of this story. The GOP refought the 2008 primary cycle with the 2008 loser (Mitt Romney) becoming the 2012 winner. He lost the general election and the consultants again got rich. In November of 2012, housed together on the fifth floor of 66 Canal Center Plaza in Alexandria, Va., nine separate Republican campaign organizations that had collaborated on the Romney loss raked in cash: Crossroads Media, Black Rock Group, WWP Strategies, Restore Our Future, Targeted Victory, DDC Advocacy/Blue Front Strategies, Target Point Consulting, Digital Franking, and Americans for Job Security.

Erickson has a lot of experience as a political strategist, so he speaks knowledgeably about the influence of this opportunistic bunch.

But consider the really cool people who are likely to win tonight: Ben Sasse, Joni Ernst, Mia Love, Scott Walker.  Think about  the great, principled firebrands we already have on the Hill:  Trey Gowdy, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee.

The reason a Pub majority, even if it's far from ideologically pure, matters is that the voices of those who are actual conservatives will be in a better position to call the squishes and Reasonable Gentlemen on any attempt to squelch them.  If out-and-out Freedom-Haters run the place, conservatives' insistence that an "R" designation mean something is a side issue; the real action is on the mind-numbing compromises worked out between the FHers and the squishes.  But if those in the majority do indeed have an "R" after their name, the argument takes center stage.

Kurt Schlichter, writing at Townhall, gets this:

When it’s between a Republican and a Democrat, it’s not choosing the lesser of two evils. At worst, it’s choosing the mediocrity over the evil.

Thad Cochran’s a jerk and the establishment creeps were jerks for supporting him. Vote for Thad.

Pat Roberts is a jerk and the establishment creeps were jerks for supporting him. Vote for Pat.

And the conservatives who lost to them in the primaries – if you haven’t done it already, get out there and demand your ticked-off supporters vote for the jerk who screwed you. It isn’t about your hurt feelings. It’s about our country.

He then reminds us of the moral dimension of this contest:

We need to bring it home for the GOP – not because its candidates are perfect but because its candidates are not actively evil. Yeah, I suppose there are some nice Democrat candidates out there. Some of them can maybe muster up a few positive comments about free enterprise and free speech, at least in theory. A few probably even like dogs better than cats, like real Americans.

But they have thrown in their lot with a crowd that seeks to destroy our sacred Constitution. The Democrats voted en masse to effectively repeal the First Amendment. Think about that – these people literally think it’s A-OK to outlaw books. They want to stop you from practicing your religion except in the manner and to the extent they choose. They want you disarmed and helpless. Oh, and if you happen to care whether Israel gets wiped off the map or not, perhaps you ought to put the party in power that didn’t boo the mention of the Jewish State at its last convention. 

See how it sharpens the perspective when you remember that this is a struggle against evil?

And so, while we're looking at it on a spiritual level, let's remember that it comes down to faith - in one's principles, convictions, most deeply held values.  We have seen, most notably in the person of Dutch, that Americans find those principles, when articulated and championed by a truly charismatic figure, electrifying.  And that can beat the money of double-chinned old country club guys any time.