Are GOP Leaders Trying to Convince Freshmen Members to Raise the Debt Ceiling?

Much of what the Republican Party does nowadays makes no sense to me from a long term perspective and all focus seems to be on short term advantage/expediency and catering to Kool-Aid drinkers who once upon a time would have been rightly ignored or treated like the crazy aunt that one tries to keep out of public view. Extremism and insanity are treated as traits to be honored while rational, logical thought have been largely exiled from the GOP universe. In the case of the ongoing debt ceiling battle, too many GOP members of Congress seem to care only about pleasing the most ignorant and mentally challenged in the Tea Party and the anti-knowledge elements of the Christian Right. The welfare of the nation seems to mean little or nothing and, if the nation defaults, the consequences will be potentially catastrophic - especially for the GOP if it is seen as the party that brought down the country. The National Journal has an article that suggests that there are still a few adults left in the GOP and that they are trying to pull the extremists in their ranks back from the precipice. Hopefully, they are successful. Here are some highlights:
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Sometimes your closest allies can become your biggest headaches. That's what senior Republicans, negotiating an increase in the nation's debt ceiling, are finding out as the clock ticks down toward the August 2 deadline.
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As top Republicans face delicate and difficult negotiations with the White House, they are beginning a concerted effort to prepare newer members of the Republican conference to vote in favor of raising the ceiling. This coming week's most difficult task, some Republicans believe, will be getting their own freshman class to a yes vote.
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The hurdles House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and their respective leadership teams face are formidable. The vast majority of new members, coupled with hard-core conservative veterans like Sen. Jim DeMint, began the year indicating there was no way they could vote to raise the debt ceiling. Some even believe there won't be consequences if a deal isn't reached by August 2.
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Slowly, senior Republicans have been walking their newer colleagues off that position. Boehner, McConnell and the rest know what will happen if Republicans and Democrats cannot work out a deal; what's more, they believe voters will ultimately blame them for obstruction, rather than Democrats. "The leadership uniformally understands the need to reach some kind of agreement that will avoid default," said a senior House Republican aide.
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McConnell has publicly made the case that a default will have serious negative political fallout for the GOP.
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Privately, House Republicans have been driving home the message that a failure to increase the debt ceiling would be a disaster. Sources said Boehner has been "aggressive," in one aide's words, in articulating the need to reach a deal. In a presentation to the House Republican Conference on Friday, Jay Powell, a former Under Secretary at the Treasury Department under George H.W. Bush and a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, laid out just what would happen if a deal isn't reached.
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"There are serious repercussions for the country if the debt limit is not raised and it's important that members have information on what we may be facing. The aim is not to scare anyone but the facts are frightening," said a top Senate Republican aide.
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For his troubles, McConnell attracted nothing but hatred from the Republican base. Conservative blogger Erick Erickson compared him with Pontius Pilate and suggested activists both burn him in effigy and send him a weasel. DeMint pledged to "use all the tools available in the Senate" to stop the plan. And though Boehner said McConnell's plan was a good backup, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, whose role in the negotiations has increased in the last week, rejected it outright.
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Time is winding down before the U.S. reaches the limits of its deficit spending. For Republican leadership, the goals in the critical week ahead will not only be to reach a compromise with the White House, but to lay the groundwork so that their own members accept the eventual deal. Given the reluctance of the membership itself to go along, and the pressure emanating from outside activists, it's less clear whether it will be harder to reach agreement with Obama or with the new class in town.
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The GOP leadership has nobody to blame but itself for the Frankenstein monster elements of the party. They seized short term advantages and made a pact with the devil - in this case the Tea Party and Christianist extremists.