J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo
The Republican Party has an unlikely new idol: Rahm Emanuel. Modeling his strategy on Emanuel’s successful 2006 takeover of the House, “California Representative Kevin McCarthy, the chief recruiter for House Republicans, said he wants his party to select candidates based less on ideology and more on their chances of winning,” according to Bloomberg. “The goal, he said, is to seek out prospects who are ethnically diverse, female, less partisan and even supportive of abortion rights. So far, these efforts are more concept than reality.” “Have you read The Thumpin?” McCarthy asks, referring to Emanuel’s book. “This isn’t original thought.” Predictably, Bloomberg reports that the “argument is rankling some Republicans, who said the party must continue to distinguish itself from the Democrats.”