In recent years stalwart conservatives within the Republican Party, represented by the Republican Main Street Partnership (which bills itself as centrist but is, in fact, quite noticeably right of center), has bumped heads against the even more conservative Club for Growth in a number of Republican primaries, with the latter group tending to, but not always receiving the upper hand. But according to The Politico's Josh Kraushaar, the two groups may be joining forces -- or at least agreeing not to waste resources on each other.

Now that Republicans are in the minority in Congress, a pair of dueling GOP organizations that fund congressional candidates may be reaching a détente of sorts, as they embrace the shared goal of reclaiming the majority in 2008.

The moderate Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) and conservative Club for Growth have faced off in a handful of contentious primaries in recent years. The Club for Growth has been more visible, and last year achieved its goal of beating a moderate Republican lawmaker in a primary contest by helping knock off then-Rep. Joe Schwarz of Michigan. The Club for Growth also spent more than $700,000 opposing then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), who fended off a primary challenge from the right but lost in the general election.

The war of words reached its apex in the aftermath of the Michigan primary between Schwarz and Rep. Tim Walberg. Schwarz filed a complaint alleging Walberg used the same pollster as the Club for Growth -- an alleged violation of Federal Election Commission rules because the organization was supposed to be an independent expenditure. The Club for Growth countered by accusing Schwarz of colluding with the RMSP.

With former Rep. Charlie Bass (N.H.) now at RMSP's helm, relations may well be improving. Bass said he is eager to put past primary battles behind him and develop a constructive working relationship.

"Now that Republicans are now in the minority, we both agree it's best to cooperate and coordinate with each other," Bass said.

With the right and the far-right allies of the Republican Party working in concert, the Republicans are sure to win back the House, right? Even if it were the case that the Club and the Partnership had agreed on a "détente" of sorts, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that the Democrats' reign over the House will be limited to just one Congress. But reports just this week indicate that the supposed comity between these two groups might not extend past their press releases. Josh Kurtz has some details over at Roll Call.

A conservative Maryland state Senator is taking steps to challenge Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in the 2008 Republican primary, though he said Friday that he has not completely decided whether to make the race.

State Sen. Andrew Harris said he has thought about challenging the Congressman for several months and was leaning against it until two weeks ago, when Gilchrest joined 16 other House Republicans in voting for a resolution that criticized President Bush's proposal to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

[...]

Harris said he would spend the next several weeks meeting with interest groups and attending local Republican meetings before deciding whether to run. He could be aided by several national organizations, including the Victory Caucus, a new group put together by conservative talk show hosts dedicated to defeating the 17 House Republicans who opposed the troop surge, and the Club for Growth, the anti-tax group.

Last year, Gilchrest was listed as 212th of 232 Republican House Members when it came to supporting club priorities, and the group's political action committee has worked against Gilchrest in the past.

Taking a gander at this early campaign story, it appears that the Club is up to its normal slash and burn tactics in favor of the most conservative elements of the Republican Party rather than finding common ground with the mere conservatives (as opposed to ultraconservatives) within the party. True, the Club is not making any commitments to Harris, or other extremist challengers to merely stalwart GOP Representatives; still, the fact that they are already examining such moves at this point is very telling. As such, it seems that the Partnership is either giving up on even its symbolic gestures to the middle, which effectively negates the point of the organization, or the two groups are not playing quite as well together as Kraushaar and the folks over at The Politico might have you think. I tend to think that the latter is the case, but we will have to wait and see...