What in the name of political gamesmanship is happening to the North Texas version of the Republican Party?

U.S. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney is running for re-election to a second term representing the 3rd Congressional District. Should be a walk in the ol’ park, right? Self, a West Point graduate, is a retired Army colonel, a former Collin County judge, he’s a conservative’s conservative, opposing almost every idea put forth by his Democratic colleagues.

He has endorsed the former POTUS’s bid to get his office back. Rep. Self voted enthusiastically for the impeachment inquiry launched against President Biden.

What more can today’s GOP ask?

I guess it’s not enough to be as right-wing as Keith Self has been since taking office in January 2023.

Suzanne Harp is challenging Self in the GOP primary set for March. She is running as an “America First Conservative.” Her campaign signs are sprouting all over Collin County like weeds in the spring.

I had a chance this week to ask a Keith Self staffer whether the congressman considers himself to be an America First Conservative. The staffer answered, “I believe so.”

This challenge to a staunchly conservative member of Congress exemplifies, in my view, the internecine battle that’s occurring within the Republican Party. As near as I can tell, Self is all in on supporting The Former Guy’s effort to regain power. So does Harp. Where, then, is the fundamental difference between them?

Keith Self campaigned in 2022 as a conservative. He has voted as one. He extols the (alleged) virtues of the former POTUS’s record and stands firmly behind him.

How does a modern Republican — in this MAGA era — campaign against someone cut from the mold that presented Keith Self to the voters of the Third Congressional District?

I have no particular interest in this contest, given my own views opposing the MAGA agenda. It just makes my head spin.