Health care tactics split Republican Senate rivals

ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans who want to regain control of the Senate will first have to do battle among themselves in 2014 primary elections, due largely to differences over how to proceed against the law they deride as "Obamacare."

In a number of Senate primary campaigns, conservatives are arguing over the best way to oppose President Barack Obama's health care law. The outcome of those campaigns could affect the battle over which party controls the Senate.

In intraparty skirmishes from Georgia to Nebraska, the GOP's most strident candidates and activists are insisting on a no-holds-barred approach. They accuse fellow Republicans — including several incumbent senators — of being too soft in their opposition to the Affordable Care Act and to the president in general.

The struggle will help determine just how conservative the Senate Republican caucus will be during Obama's final two years.

And it could influence which party controls the chamber, with Democrats hoping that the most uncompromising Republican standard-bearers will emerge from the primaries and fare as poorly in general elections as their counterparts did in several 2012 Senate races. Republicans need to gain six seats to retake the majority in the Senate.