I've said this about Democrats, but it's also true of Republicans. If you're an incumbent in a safe House seat, and you're worried about losing a primary, you're doing something wrong. I don't have a particularly positive view of Republican base voters, but I don't think "going the full Q" is the only way to appeal to them. An incumbent with name advantage, money advantage, and almost certainly local media support, who can't win is likely not trying too hard or doing anything right.
I'm not trying to Both Sides Dem and Republican primary challenges. I don't think saying "people should have free at point of service health care" and "Hillary Clinton wears a mask made from the skin of children she slaughtered in the basement of Comet Pizza" are in any way similar. But there's a bit of "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas" from incumbent politicians in both of these situations.
