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Political pundits during this election year have often returned toa favorite topic: the impending demise of the Tea Party. The National Journal in February headlined an article, "Failed Candidates andFaded Icons Reflect Tea Party decline." That same month The New York Times claimed that the influence of the Tea Party is waning. On television, MSNBC displayed the banner "weak tea" onscreen as a studio desk full of experts debated whether the TeaParty's influence is waning. Meanwhile ABC News'website asked if the Tea Party is "over"? A little more than three years after the Tea Party exploded ontothe political stage and less than two years after the movementhelped Republicans manage the largest turnover in the U.S. House inmore than 70 years, even former GOP presidential candidate NewtGingrich said on CNN that the Tea Party doesn't have "thepassion they had in 2010." But Tuesday's Tea Party-engineered ouster of moderate Sen.Richard Lugar in Indiana, one of the longest-serving members of theSenate, proves that the movement still has plenty of muscle, whichcandidates this fall would be foolish to ignore. Lugar, a six-term senator firmly entrenched in the GOP'sestablishment, will not even be on the November ballot for aseventh term after losing Tuesday in the Indiana GOP primary toRichard Mourdock, the state's treasurer. Mourdock hadreceived the endorsement of Indiana Tea Party groups as well asnational Tea Party organizations like FreedomWorks and the TeaParty Express. In a veiled jab at the Tea Party, Lugar, whose loyalty toconservative ideals was questioned during the primary race,criticized Mourdock for supporting "groups whose prime missionis to cleanse the Republican Party of those who stray fromorthodoxy as they see it." Lugar said of Mourdock, "His embrace of an unrelentingpartisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy ofgovernance." Lugar's forced retirement is a reflection of both the TeaParty's continued influence and the anti-incumbent mindsetthat still thrives across the country. "Sen. Lugar has sided too many times with the Democrats,"Stacy Rutkowski of Valparaiso told the Associated Press aftervoting for Mourdock on Tuesday. "He's been there six terms,and it's time for some new blood." This voter attitude against the status quo has endangered anotherveteran senator: Orrin Hatch of Utah, who is also seeking a seventhterm. Last month, Hatch did not get enough votes at thestate's Republican convention to avoid a run-off election setfor June. Tea Party groups are also mounting charges againstestablishment candidates in open U.S. Senate races in Texas andNebraska. A lot of the talk dismissing the Tea Party stems from the resultsof the Republican presidential primary race: Tea Partiers couldnever coalesce around a single candidate in the once-crowded field.The group remains skeptical of the GOP's presumptive nominee,Mitt Romney. But Lugar's loss suggests that Romney would be wise to findways to reach out to the Tea Party movement if he wants to energizethe conservative base before November's election. Join the conversation about this article. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as E Cig Accessories Manufacturer , China E Cigs Starter Kit for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits EGO CE5 Electronic Cigarette.
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