I find it puzzling that people suggest the tea party movement is having a negative impact on the Republican Party. When the movement first began this mantra was prevalent and had merit especially since the movements wilder elements were usually the ones paraded about while the masses of “normal “ folks were largely ignored or over looked.

However now we have the luxury of some history to actually quantify the impact of this movement on elections. Clearly, there was no negative impact to the Republican Party in recent elections attributable to the tea party movement. Or would the Republican candidates have won by an even larger margin had the movement not existed? That is a real stretch in logic.

I can’t make that stretch, it defies common sense. So my question then becomes how much did the tea party movement help in recent elections? To me, that is the real question.

I do not know the answer, but to those on the left, my hope is that you believe it did not help at all, that other factors were in play. And therefore continue to ignore and disparage the movement. At least for 10 more months.