One of the hard things to explain to casual consumers of political news is the sometimes thin connection between philosophy and party. Not all Democrats consider themselves liberal, not all Republicans consider themselves conservative and vice versa.

The latest example of how not all conservatives march in step with the Republican Party comes from the blog RedState, which is leading a fundraising drive for four conservative Senate candidates, two of whom are running in GOP primaries against opponents backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“I won’t call this the ‘screw the NRSC’ fundraiser, but I’m sorely tempted,” wrote editor-in-chief Erick Erickson.