G.O.P. Collapse in Indiana Emblematic of Larger Loss

New York Times:

"As he campaigned for re-election, the Republican who lost his seat in the House of Representatives here on Tuesday threw several incendiary barbs suggesting that the opposition was beyond the mainstream of these placid southern Indiana environs: “Homosexual agenda”; “San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi”; “New York liberal Charlie Rangel”; “Detroit liberal John Conyers.”

The attack backfired, and the Republican incumbent, John Hostettler, lost, as did two other incumbent Indiana Republicans in what proved to be a crucial state for Democrats in winning the House.

The mechanics of those defeats offer insights into the larger loss, and point to traps that Republican candidates appeared to have unwittingly entered: In all three cases, to demonstrate being a Washington insider was to court doom, no matter how much the incumbents railed against the ways of the capital. "