John Cole nails it, as always:

What They Should Have Done

What they should have done is simple. They should have claimed victory when Obama made the modification to the mandate. When the initial mandate came out from HHS, there was a multi-day freakout, the Bishops and the prudes generated a lot of press, and Team Obama looked at things, calibrated the mandate so that so-called “religious freedom” was preserved, and the entire issue would have been taken off the table if the right had done the smart thing and just claimed victory. They could have celebrated it as a triumph of religious freedom over Obama, and could have claimed that their political might forced Obama to capitulate. He gave them an out and a political victory while maintaining a political victory for himself- he created a win/win situation for them. They could have used it to their advantage- “Obama attempted to assault religious freedom and our collective political power and might was able to make sure that religious organizations no longer have to provide contraception.” They could have made this into a big win for the team.

But instead of seizing upon it, they instead shit the bed and decided to double down, and now we have near 70% of the country looking at the Republicans like they are some kind of freak show, with their leaders introducing the Blunt and Rubio amendments and their spiritual leaders calling all women who use contraceptives sluts and prostitutes and the base doubling down and following their lead. It’s bewildering to watch. If I were Frank Luntz or the other Republican strategists I would be pulling my hair out and trying to get them into a room listening to Kenny Rogers looped for 24 hours.