Tea party victory endangers GOP’s goal

[PegLeg45]

Good thing or bad thing?
I really love that a virtual unknown candidate can unseat a several-term incumbent in a primary, but does she have enough momentum to take the November election, and does keeping a potential GOP take-over of the Senate hurt in the long run? With the Tea Party making a big splash like this in Delaware, is there a potential (with enough running) to put enough of them in seats to prevent a +50 any-party majority in the Senate?

Tea party victory endangers GOP’s goal of retaking the Senate
By Holly Bailey

With polls showing significant GOP momentum this fall, Republicans in recent weeks began to believe they had a real chance of retaking control of the Senate in November. But a major primary upset at the hands of a tea party insurgent on Tuesday may have put the Senate GOP's dreams of a majority at serious risk.

In the biggest electoral surprise of the night, conservative activist Christine O'Donnell defeated longtime GOP Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware's Republican Senate primary. Castle, a moderate who once served as the state's governor, had been so favored to win in November that his decision to run had reportedly influenced Democrat Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, to abandon plans to seek his father's old seat.

But with O'Donnell's come-from-nowhere win Tuesday night, top Republicans in Washington now see virtually no chance the GOP will be able to pick up the Delaware seat this fall. As a result, they admit their already slim chance of winning back Republican control of the Senate is likely dead.

---snip---

more at link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100915/el_yblog_upshot/tea-party-victory-endangers-gops-goal-of-retaking-the-senate

http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/u-s-senate-races-to-watch-in-2010-23863.html

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2009/Senate/senate_races.html

[r_w]

RINO's don't count, vote them out.

Rush nailed it today, it isn't about being conservative--it is about getting back to 51 so they can get contol of chairmanships and pursestrings.

The RNC machine is part of the problem...

[PegLeg45]

That's why I was asking.
Is there a potential for enough 'unknown' (non-GOP) Tea Party candidates out there to win enough seats to cause neither party to have a '51' majority?

I know the Tea Party is running on the conservative platform, but what if it ends up with a hypothetical example of say, 45 Dem seats, 45 Rep seats, and 10 Tea Party seats? Could it happen theoretically?

I'm not rallying for or against the GOP, they ain't a bed of roses any more than the Dems have been. I'm all for getting rid of the old shoes here. I'm just asking is there a wrench in the machine waiting up ahead.....as in: Can the Tea Party, while doing a good thing (unseating incumbents), cause the Dems to be able to do an end-run around the GOP and keep a majority...causing more damage in the long run?

[r_w]

Anything is possible when the ends justify the means.

Most "TEA Party" candidates are running on the GOP ticket, so they will be GOP seats when it comes to counting seats for leadership. 

[r_w]

Don't forget the Dems threw Greene (SC) under the bus, too.

[Sponsor]

[JC5123]

Does anyone have a take on the GOP continually eating their own? It seems that everytime we get a genuine conservative, who is willing to fight and do the right thing, it's the GOP that is trying to shut them up? What baffles me is that these are the very people that are bringing people back to the repub tent in droves?  WTF Steele?

[PegLeg45]

Does anyone have a take on the GOP continually eating their own? It seems that everytime we get a genuine conservative, who is willing to fight and do the right thing, it's the GOP that is trying to shut them up? What baffles me is that these are the very people that are bringing people back to the repub tent in droves?  WTF Steele?

Something else along those lines:

FTA:

But with O'Donnell's come-from-nowhere win Tuesday night, top Republicans in Washington now see virtually no chance the GOP will be able to pick up the Delaware seat this fall. As a result, they admit their already slim chance of winning back Republican control of the Senate is likely dead.......

........On Tuesday night, the National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a tepid statement of congratulations to O'Donnell, but a GOP official told Fox News the party has no plans of putting money into the race.

That statement sounds like a schoolyard kid who strikes out in the third inning and then takes their ball home. The GOP candidate lost to a Tea Party candidate in the primary, and now the GOP says it won't back the conservative candidate because it isn't GOP. Looks like they would at least throw some support..... if for nothing else than to beat the Dem candidate in November.

[Solus]

It's about control again.

The GOP would rather lose the seats now and teach voters a lesson that supporting candidates outside the GOP's wishes will get you nowhere. 

While they might suffer losses now, it will allow them to keep the candidates the GOP wants in office rather than the ones the voters want in office.

[PegLeg45]

It's about control again.

The GOP would rather lose the seats now and teach voters a lesson that supporting candidates outside the GOP's wishes will get you nowhere. 

While they might suffer losses now, it will allow them to keep the candidates the GOP wants in office rather than the ones the voters want in office.

I guess that's why I like Tom's 'rope' strategy all the more better.

[twyacht]

The big picture, which has the GOP establishment freaking out, is WE WANT NEW BUMS!!!!!

NO INCUMBENTS!!!, the message has to start somewhere. Castle, had your chance, Good-Bye. McCollum here in FL, long term member, had your chance, Good-Bye, etc,....etc,...

Is every tea party candidate good? Probably not, will some lose against the Dems in Nov. Probably....

But this is REAL change. Get the incumbents, establishment professional politicians OUT, they love their power more than their constituents.

Some won't ever get it. Look at Charlie Rangel, wins easily. John McCain, a bonafide RINO, wins again. It will take time, but remember the "Young Guns" of junior Republicans that wrote a book, and also want to buck the establishment, entrenched, BS that is Washington.

The shake up is for both parties, the Pete Starks, Pelosi's, Boxers, etc,....will just take more time.

The GOP "regulars", are part of the problem, and it's time for new bums. 

I hope turnout is more than 15-20%...in Nov.