The key to understanding the political difference between Senate Republicans and House Republicans ie difference between just cruel and totally insane - comes to 'Gerrymandering' and safe HOUSE seats. The magamadness thrives in GOP safe seats

It also explains difference between Some Steve Named Kevin McCarthy the minority leader in the House and Mitch McTurtle the minority leader in the Senate.

So first briefly, what is Gerrymandering and why does it matter in House but not Senate political careers?

Gerrymandering is the policy of designing voting districts to advantage one party against the other. Voting districts are drawn so, that one party voters are tightly packed into a few voting districts, & other party has the rest of voters spread to give 'just enough' for sure win

As a picture tells a story of a thousand words.. here is simple diagram of how gerrymandering could let a state where one party won 60% of votes, still only get 40% of House seats if districts perfectly gerrymandered:

So obviously duh, gerrymandering is undemocratic. It is not a 'Republican' or 'Democratic' trick - BOTH parties have done it, over decades. BUT it has NEVER been as broadly used as today, advantage mostly to Republicans.

Because Gerrymandering is a flaw in the current political system it has to be fixed ie made illegal. And at some point it will be

But TODAY Gerrymandering exists - which is why the GOP is able to hold MORE House seats, than its NATIONAL election vote count, by a several percent

Apart from Gerrymandering being 'unfair' to actual vote in a given state, by House seats awarded - it produces a 'poisoning effect' to BOTH political parties. The Maganutter madness grew out of Tea Party nutters: their NUMBERS in the HOUSE ('freedom caucus') due to Gerrymandering

In any Gerrymandered district (for EITHER party in that state) there is NO incentive to pursue a political position that favors COMPROMISE and bipartisanship. Because the seat is 'safe' due to Gerrymandering. The only 'danger' to that House member is a MORE PURE politician

In any Gerrymandered district (nearly always) the party AUTOMATICALLY wins that seat, so the GENERAL election is not the 'race'. In Gerrymandered the PRIMARY election (for only that party) will matter. So EVERY such House member fears a rival who is 'more extreme' at their BASE

While we have WITNESSED the problem now with Maganutters - the DEMs are NOT immune - this SAME system could drive a 'green' or 'socialist/Bernista' extreme edge into established DEMs seats - TAKING OUT THE MODERATES. It is ALREADY happening - but not as severely (yet) as maga

This Gerrymandering effect is a 'purifying' poison to a BROAD political party (appealing to the middle) pushing it to a NICHE extremist party of MINORITY status.

Look at the 143 House Reps on their vote on 6 January. It is the vast majority of the GOP in the House

This is very different from the Senate, whre the districts are not gerrymandered (except for 2 states) all voters in one state vote for their Senator(s). This means that most Senators in most states will try to appeal to the middle & moderates, rather than the extreme edge 'base'

At SOME point Gerrymandering will be outlawed somehow. Before that, many states are trying to get rid of it locally (some more successfully than others).

If GOP 'understood' that Gerrymandering FEEDS the maga sickness, they should join DEMs in outlawing Gerrymandering BUT..

BUT because the GOP has become a MINORITY party, they cannot AFFORD to abandon their 'crutches' like Gerrymandring (and voter suppression, Electoral College etc).

This poisoning effect by gerrymandering is a NEVER ENDING vicious cycle. It ONLY gets WORSE (for GOP)

The class of Republican House GOP for 2022 will be FAR MORE vile than we have now the class of 2020. Expect the maga crowds to push ever more nutty fanatics - who will win PRIMARIES to expel what might still count as 'moderates'

The good things is, that strategy can't win a national vote. It is likely DEMs can hold the House in 2022 but what remains of the GOP in the House will become ever more lunatic - until the GOP finally decide to rid itself of the nutters - or a real split happens

On the Senate side, the maganutter caucus is also growing, but their growth is tempered by a lack of Gerrymandering. Expect the 'adults' of the GOP to primarily come from the Senators, not from the House