Tea Party Recaptures 2010 Momentum

When news outlets reported that Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) had lost in the primaries against Indiana State Treasurer Richard Murdock after holding his senate seat for 36 years, the loss itself was only half the story. The rest of the story was that Murdock was backed by the Tea Party and Gov. Sarah Palin, and that Lugar’s loss paints a dismal picture for Republicans who aren’t serious about their conservatism. Seen in this light, Lugar’s loss brings to mind the shellacking establishment Republicans took in November 2010, and portends more of it is yet to come.

And a big indicator of how much November 2012 may resemble November 2010 will be known after the Texas primaries later this month. There, Ted Cruz is supported by the Tea Party and has been endorsed by both Rush Limbaugh and National Review. In him, real conservatism is pitted against the Democrat-lite views of former ESPN analyst Craig James and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

James, who knows far more about getting college football coaches fired (Mike Leach) than he does about winning one for the Gipper, reeks of “moderate Republicanism”–whatever that is–while Cruz is solidly conservative down the line.

Yet it’s not just Republicans like Lugar and James who need to take note. Democrats, who received the blunt of Tea Party frustration in November 2010, may get their lunches handed to them this November as well. James Carville, of all people, is scared to death that this is going to happen and is screaming at Democrats, ‘Wake Up! Wake Up!’

Said Carville:

Democratic fundraisers, activists, supporters, and even politicians alike have somehow collectively lapsed into the sentiment that the president is going to be reelected and that we have a good shot to take the House back while holding the Senate. I ask: What are you smoking? What are you drinking? What are you snorting or just what in the hell are you thinking?

I love seeing Carville get all worked up, and I love seeing Republicans who aren’t real conservatives get shown the door. Here’s to Senator Cruz and a November 2012 shellacking of Democrat-lite candidates in the Republican column.