THE HILL: Untamed Cruz refuses to play nice with GOP campaign arm.

The defiant Republican’s brutal criticism of Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) reelection campaign on Tuesday — and the involvement of a group he is technically a vice chairman of, the National Republican Senatorial Committee — is just the latest example of the Tea Party hero refusing to play nice.

That brazen approach has exacerbated already fragile relations with establishment Republicans, who believe the freshman senator is intentionally undercutting them for no reason other than furthering his own political career.

Meanwhile, his conservative base is rejoicing that he’s refusing to be cowed.

The NRSC’s base is the minority of Republicans in the Senate. And the NRSC has been ham-handed all year, going out of its way to alienate supporters with dumb race-baiting that Dems have picked up on. This isn’t smart.