Mar. 15, 2023: The GOP faces its 'candidate quality' issues
We\u2019re barely into the 2024 Senate cycle, and already some Republicans are feeling a sense of deja vu.\xa0\nIn a new must-read, our Holly Otterbein attended a rural Pennsylvania rally for Doug Mastriano, the \u201cstate\u2019s most MAGA Republican\u201d who also won its gubernatorial primary last year only to lose the general election by double digits to Democrat Josh Shapiro.\xa0\nHer biggest takeaway: Despite that huge loss, Pennsylvania Republicans aren\u2019t ready to toss Mastriano overboard as he mulls a challenge to veteran Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr.\n\u201cEstablishment Republicans have found a silver lining amid the grimness [of 2022]: Perhaps there will be a reckoning,\u201d she writes. \u201cEven diehard supporters of former President Donald Trump, they\u2019ve reasoned, are finally sick of losing. \u2026 In this corner of the political world in Pennsylvania, it\u2019s the establishment \u2014 not the MAGAverse \u2014 that needs course-correction.\u201d\nSubscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter\nRaghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio