September 15, 2010

Can the Tea Party Win in November?


primaryLeft to right: Rob Carr/Associated Press, Don Heupel/Associated PressOn Tuesday, Christine O'Donnell won the G.O.P. Senate primary in Delaware and Carl Paladino won the G.O.P. gubernatorial nomination in New York.

The Tea Party movement scored a big victory on Tuesday with Christine O’Donnell's upset win over Representative Michael N. Castle for the Republican senatorial nomination in Delaware. He is now the eighth candidate supported by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to be defeated this year.

In New Hampshire, another Tea Party-supported candidate, Ovide LaMontagne, nearly prevailed over Kelly Ayotte, the former state attorney general, for the Republican nomination for the Senate. And in New York, Carl Paladino, also a Tea Party candidate, trounced Rick A. Lazio, a former congressman who had establishment support for the Republican nomination in the race of governor.

Are these primary races a preview of what's coming in November? Given the anti-establishment passions of Tea Party supporters, how does the Republican leadership address this movement after Tuesday's results?

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