As soon as he gets to Congress, Boehner and Cantor will have him doing whatever they want. Also, the GOP leadership in Massachussetts had absolutely zero power with about 25% of the seats.
Bobby Bright was a known quantity in his Alabama district and was the hugely popular and conservative mayor of a city that made about about a fifth of the distirct. In 2008, his flawed opponent attacked him as a rubber stamp for Pelosi and came within a 1000 votes of beating him because of it. In an even slightly less toxic Republican environment, Bright would have lost.
If Tisei is an actual "liberal Republican", he would support the healthcare bill and letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Instead, hes talking about repealing healthcare.
Partisanship can make the difference, if the DCCC opts to drop a few bucks in with ads showing Boehner and Cantor, it will resonate. D+7 is a bridge too far in what will be a polarized election at the top of the ticket.
