Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)  -- On Sept. 12, 2009, frustrated tea party citizens from across the country marched upon the Capitol in Washington, energized by a shared sense of disenfranchisement in the political system and anger at a federal government they believed was taxing too much and racking up a dangerous amount of debt. Two years later, much has changed. A powerful coalition of tea-party-backed freshmen walks the halls of Congress, where they have unsettled the establishment and pushed their own party to the right. On the campaign trail, the support of tea party groups has helped launch campaigns and is a force candidates ignore at their peril.
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CNN sponsoring Republican presidential candidates debate with Tea Party Express
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One tea party organizer says movement has evolved from protest to get-out-the-vote operation
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Another organizer says tea party will have big say in the party's 2012 nominee
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Expert says movement has sustained because anger among the electorate persists
For those who doubt the movement has moved toward the mainstream, the @placeholder will join CNN on Monday night to host a nationally televised forum where eight GOP presidential candidates will vie for tea party support.