The tea party says it’s growing up — and so are the candidates it chooses.
In 2010, the tea party vs. establishment showdowns that took place in GOP primaries were often a messy process marked by prominent tea party candidates drawing national attention for all the wrong reasons. In 2012, it has shown signs of fine-tuning — many of the tea party insurgents who are taking on the mainstream have a much better chance of winning. And that, says one prominent tea party group, is by design.The lessons of 2010 are still fresh. Though some of the tea party’s Senate picks that year went on to win — among them Sens. Mike Lee (UT), Rand Paul (KY) and Marco Rubio (FL) — the bigger story was the tea partiers who were blamed for blowing GOP chances at seizing control of the Senate in a Republican wave year. Nominees like Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada became the mascots for the tea party movement, and their bumbling general election campaigns that went down in flames left a lasting impression.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=98441