Will Democrats' election victories kill the Tea Party?

The Tea Party had a terrible night on Tuesday. But that doesn't necessarily mean the party is over

Ted Cruz speaks at the "Patriots for Romney-Ryan Reception" on Aug. 29
(Image credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Almost any way you look at it, the Tea Party had a terrible Election Night. The small-government movement picked up one important new member, Senator-elect Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but two other Tea Party–backed candidates, Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana, did much to keep the GOP from taking control of the Senate, losing races a more moderate Republican should have easily won. And in the House, at least 10 of the Tea Party Republicans swept in during the 2010 election were swept out, including movement stars Joe Walsh (Ill.) and (pending a possible recount) Allen West (Fla.). Even Rep. Michele Bachmann barely kept her seat. "The Tea Party is over," boasted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Is it?

The Tea Party is losing steam, fast: After Tuesday's rout, it's pretty clear that "the wave has crested for the birther, Bircher, Tea Party types," says Phil Perrier at The Huffington Post. The core of the movement — older white people — are becoming ever more electorally irrelevant, and Tea Partiers' ugliness toward President Obama backfired. It turns out that "though loud and obnoxious, the Tea Party never had the numbers or the power that the media gave them credit for. Now they have very little indeed."

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