There already is evidence that mainstream Republican conservatives are not very happy with the influence of the Tea Party Movement on them in Congress.
Does the Republican Party really think that a party with the public image of Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, and Sarah Palin, among others, is a good omen for their future success?
Why is it so much attention is being paid to these Tea Party favorites, and others like them, and focus is not being placed on more mainstream conservatives, such as newly elected Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri, Dan Coats of Indiana, and Rob Portman of Ohio, and veteran Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Richard Lugar of Indiana, among others?
If the Republican Party really expects to gain control of the Senate and retain the House of Representatives in future elections, would it not make more sense to focus and promote the more mainstream, respectable conservatives and moderates in the party?
Extremism and loony behavior are not the road to long range success and respectability for any political party, and it can be expected that the struggle within the Republican Party over the next two years will have a long range effect on the party’s fortunes in Congress, as well as in the Presidential race of 2012!