Conservatives can build an un-bossable Senate

It understates the case to say that some conservatives are disappointed with the idea of nominating former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to face President Obama this fall.

So what to do if and when Romney finally sews this up? The temptation is always there to drop out of the political process. But if conservatives are interested in advancing their cause from beneath Romney's banner -- as they will likely have to -- they must think beyond the presidential race and to the elections that will provide context to its result for the next four years.

The institution in greatest need of conservative influence right now is the U.S. Senate, the place where House conservatives' ideas for limiting government and expanding the economy have been going to die for the last 13 months. This year's Senate contests offer many opportunities to push the party and the nation to the right, and conservatives should pay attention.

The 2010 Senate election campaign had its share of conservative flops -- think especially of Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada. But it also brought in a contingent of active, stalwart freshmen who have shown independence in their first year of service.

Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania have added their conservative voices to those of longer-serving colleagues like Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

But they remain outnumbered. The challenge in 2012 will be to build up this group. And the opportunities are certainly there.

In Arizona, the iconoclastic and libertarian-leaning Rep. Jeff Flake appears to have consolidated establishment GOP support for his open-seat Senate bid.

In April 2004, I was surprised to run into Flake in Allentown, Pa. -- he was there supporting then-Rep. Toomey in his first bid against liberal Republican Sen. Arlen Specter. ...

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