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By Amanda Carpenter

Message problem

The Republican Party has yet another message problem on its hands.

Two candidates the National Republican Senatorial Committee has recruited for 2010 races are at odds with the anti-stimulus opposition being put forth by the Republican National Committee.

While RNC operatives busy themselves compiling reports of government waste tucked in President Obama's stimulus bill and issuing hard-hitting talking points against it, they're being undermined by their Senate fundraising arm.

It appears the RNC is trying to win elections based on principle, while the NRSC is more concerned with who may be electable -- a classic political clash.

The top example is the NRSC's support for the popular Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. NRSC Chairman John Cornyn endorsed Mr. Crist over the more fiscally conservative Marco Rubio earlier this year, outraging many conservatives.

The same scenario is now playing out in New Hampshire.

When the state's attorney general, Kelly A. Ayotte, another high-polling Republican, announced she was resigning from her post to explore a bid for the Senate, the NRSC immediately issued a statement calling her a "formidable candidate for the U.S. Senate if she decides to run," a strong indication it would be likely to support her once her candidacy is declared. The committee also e-mailed conservative bloggers items promoting flattering things political reporters had written about her.

But, like Mr. Crist, she doesn't appear to be much of a fiscal conservative.