# How many senate races did the tea party cost/win the GOP **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343 "2010-11-03T16:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/21 "2010-11-05T00:53:20Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Prediction… Lib hatred will increase over the next two years and the Teabaggers (might as well egg you all on) will only be more influential. I hate to break this to you, but the teabagger movement was a one-and-done deal. They were powered entirely by hate and rage and they blew thier wad on this election. They got the Repubs a few crumbs of power but not enough to make any real changes and certainly not enough to do what they are promising. You can’t maintain that voter outrage when you are in power without the rage turning on you. If they Repubs in power do not make some major economic gains and huge job growth the bullseye is squarely on them in 2012. Since the entire goal of the Repub leaders in Congress next year will be to hurt Obama, they are going to fail at anything they try to pass and will look weak and inefectual to the voter base next election. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/22 "2010-11-05T13:03:10Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > I hate to break this to you, but the teabagger movement was a one-and-done deal. They were powered entirely by hate and rage and they blew thier wad on this election. They got the Repubs a few crumbs of power but not enough to make any real changes and certainly not enough to do what they are promising. You can’t maintain that voter outrage when you are in power without the rage turning on you. If they Repubs in power do not make some major economic gains and huge job growth the bullseye is squarely on them in 2012. Since the entire goal of the Repub leaders in Congress next year will be to hurt Obama, they are going to fail at anything they try to pass and will look weak and inefectual to the voter base next election. That’s what you are hoping…but your analysis is a bit flawed. How does one half of one branch of government = “in power”? Obama, the Senate, an activist judiciary and the Dem special interests will continue to provide plenty of ammo for us ball-danglers to hate. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/23 "2010-11-05T14:31:13Z")
Ball-danglers? People who wear cutoff shorts? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/24 "2010-11-05T14:55:22Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > You can’t maintain that voter outrage when you are in power without the rage turning on you. If they Repubs in power do not make some major economic gains and huge job growth the bullseye is squarely on them in 2012. I saw an interview with Michael Steele on election night. The interviewer asked him what message he thought people should interpret from the results. Steele’s answer was “pay attention.” Pay attention to what, you moron? I mean, isn’t that supposed to be implicit in every election? Aren’t you supposed to be paying attention to us every two years? I’ve never seen someone so confidently saying he got the message while simultaneously missing it so completely. However, **DoR** , I don’t agree with your assessment that the Tea Party has played itself out. The Partiers and the candidates who pandered to them were so non-specific and unfocused that anybody can stand in front of them in two years and claim success. “You sent us to Washington to bomb Iran and privatize the prison system, and we have!” As long as the band is playing and everybody has their flag lapel pins on straight, who’s going to question them. I just haven’t seen that degree of self-awareness and criticality in the Tea Party. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/25 "2010-11-05T15:00:47Z")
There’s plenty of criticality. There’s not a lot of critical _thought._ ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/26 "2010-11-05T15:09:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I saw an interview with Michael Steele on election night. The interviewer asked him what message he thought people should interpret from the results. Steele’s answer was “pay attention.” > > Pay attention to what, you moron? This reminds me: now that the election is over, how soon will it be before Steele is fired? Or do the Republicans still need a token to convince minority voters they’re just as supportive of them in leadership roles as the Democratic party? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/27 "2010-11-05T15:13:48Z")
If the last two years weren’t enough to get him fired, I highly doubt that he’ll lose his job after the best GOP election results in a decade. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/28 "2010-11-05T15:25:35Z")
Steele had nothing to do with that and lots of negatives besides. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343/29 "2010-11-05T15:26:40Z")
Doesn’t matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-senate-races-did-the-tea-party-cost-win-the-gop/559343.md?page=1)