Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's debt-ceiling contingency plan is either a deft political stroke or a sellout of epic magnitude -- depending on who's looking at it.

Unfortunately for the GOP, this debate is playing out among Republicans.

McConnell's plan has created a rift among conservatives torn over whether the Kentucky senator is making the best of a bad situation or buckling under pressure. The intra-party dispute only adds to the confusion and uncertainty as Congress tracks, without a deal, toward what the administration claims is an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling or face default...