Primaries, polls show tea party's struggles

[sinkingfeeling]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37597620/ns/politics-washington_post/

The national "tea party" movement's recent winning streak broke with Tuesday's primary results, providing fresh evidence of the decentralized conservative network's struggle to convert activist anger and energy into electoral results.

From California to Virginia (with some notable exceptions), establishment-favored candidates won Tuesday in Republican primary battles for governor, House and Senate. In California, candidates who claimed the conservative mantle were outgunned by well-known and well-funded opponents. And in two congressional races in Virginia, where the tea party movement is popular and abundant, activists were unable to coalesce around a single candidate -- illustrating the organizational challenges facing the movement's grass roots.

"The tea party movement is not as politically sophisticated as it needs to be," said Judson Phillips, founder of the national group Tea Party Nation. "When you have a half-dozen people calling themselves tea party candidates, you need to get them in a room, and some of them need to be willing to drop out so the tea party candidate can win. That's one of the frustrating things about this movement: It's supposed to be something other than politics as usual, but some of these folks are only looking out for themselves, and not for the country."

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. That's the problem with "interest groups" inside a party. They make lots of noise,

but in the end.....