Will Mods Formally Caucus with Dems?

There's a tiny squabble on Twitter between the so-called Moderate trolls and the Democrat trolls, who at least have the integrity to call themselves what they are: Democrats.

Dems--all 5 or so of them--are attempting to paint the so-called moderates as Brownback allies. In Troll land, the Dems are saying things like this:

This raises an interesting squestion: Should Brownback reach out to the so-called mods? Should he show up at their events and allow himself to be photographed with them--as MUCH as possible?

There's a reasonable side of me says this should happen anyway. Brownback should be building bridges and making friends. I mean, it's the right thing to do, especially since he's going to have to work with them.

And the diabolical side says showing up and assisting is a GREAT way to help them off the bridge. Allow staffers in Brownbacker t-shirts to campaign for so-called mods at unaffiliated doors, get lots of photographs of Brownback with the so-called mods. And in the meantime, it looks as if the Governor is just doing his best to get along.

I'm kidding. Kind of. There are two schools of thought on this upcoming election:

1. Help elect the so-called moderates and attempt to work with them. The idea is not sending all conservatives into the political wilderness by reaching compromises and by finding common ground.

I have trouble taking this tact. I'm all for working with people who take a few steps in my direction, and I'll even make the first move. However, I need the other side to take one towards me in return. The so-called mods don't seem interested at all in finding common ground. Collectively, they were vile and vicious on election night, and I don't think it's too much to ask anyone to act with humility, grace, and manners.

On a personal level, it really feels like these efforts to work together are how conservatives continually give up ground. We take those first hesitant steps, and the favor is never returned. We just move ourselves one step closer to the steam roller. 

2. Allow the so-called moderates to get run over by the Democrats. 

I haven't seen the numbers yet, but I firmly believe this Republican primary electorate was far different than the electorate that turned up to vote in 2012 and 2014. I suspect a lot of those new primary voters were Democrats who switched parties just so they could vote in the Republican primary. I suspect they'll vote for the Democrat in the general. There were enough of those voters to swing a primary, but it will be interesting if they have the numbers to swing a general. (They just might, because our top of ticket. Ugh. I guess the good news is their top of ticket is also pretty atrocious.)

So, the question is: Which is more desirable? Being in the wilderness for a few years or helping the Democrats achieve their agenda by playing nice? 

Here's the really tragic thing: For the so-called mods to keep their promises they campaigned on this summer, they'll need to raise billions in taxes. That's with a 'B.' These are plans that will ultimately fail. You can't tax and spend your way to prosperity. If you want to see what that attempt looks like, let me offer you a lovely trip to Venezuela. 

If conservatives assist in those plans through compromise or if the Governor doesn't veto those plans, when they fail --and they will eventually-- conservatives will be tagged with the blame. 

So choose carefully between assisting the so-called mods. There's more at stake than the next few years.