is conservative blogger eric ericsson, he writes this.servatives must seek retribution or become the paper tiger. maria, what will the retribution look like? >> i think we're all a little scared of that. >> i am. >> right. but i think that let's be honest, i think what joy is saying is absolutely right. unless the republican party figures out a way to coalesce, they're only going to be basically a strong party in midterm elections. there's no way they are going to actually -- they actually reflect the majority of voters when they come in between presidential elections. so they have to figure out their strategy. are they looking for short-term gains in the senate and possibly continue controlling the house or do they actually want the white house? that's where, again, boehner is trying to herd cats. he has to make sure they bring people more into the center in order for him to actually make sure they have a shot some day at the white house. >> you know what? the problem for the republicans right now is there's an alternate theory of why th

eric ericsson wrote his supporters an e-mail saying this, without jim demint we would most likely notresently have in the united states senate pat toomey, rand paul, mike lee, marco rubio, jeff flake, ron johnson, ted cruz. we would not have a republican establishment that worries that conservatives might actually primary them. demint also had backed candidates who went on to lose their general elections. richard mourdock in indiana, christine o'donnell in delaware, ken buck out in colorado. bob, i'm going to back to this again. when the chief ramrod of the right wing senate candidates leaves the post, who would replace him? how is this good news for the right? >> look, i'm not saying whether it's good news or bad news, i'm telling you what i think his calculation is. his calculation is he can be more of a free agent. i think he will get very involved in primaries, he will push hard right issues. i wish him well because the candidates he succeeded in nominating have quite often lost winnable seats. the notion, for example, that ted cruz -- the republicans were going to win that seat a

conservative blocker and editor of red state.com, eric ericsson, he wrote a piece entitled why john boehner must not fold on tax rate increases. it's a shame that republicans are playing into mr. obama's hands negotiating in public prematuring giving up on the tack issue. this is why i think it's an easy case to make if you're on the right. we had an election. if you respect the election, you must assume they were paying attention when barack obama, the president, as you like to say appropriately, the president over and over in every speech said we've got to raise the tax rates on the top bracket. and everybody heard it, and everybody voted for him knew they were voting for that and that was the majority. that would help the conservatives say this time i'll go with the voter. >> and this shows if you live long enough, you will see anything happen and now we have rush limbaugh being the voice of moderation. >> on the dream team. >> within the republican party. the voice for pragmatic decision making in the party. i think people do realize that. they say it privately. each day more and more o