Tea Party makes its mark in Republican primaries

The Tea Party movement has significantly shaped American politics since it emerged early in 2009. The movement emerged out of the Ron Paul campaign for President as a libertarian-conservative campaign against taxation, which quickly spread to cover most right-wing causes, and acting as an anti-establishment movement, strongly opposed to Obama administration policies such as national healthcare, but also opposed to the Republican establishment. The movement also has included prominent elements who have cast doubt on the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency, questioned his citizenship status and compared his government to socialism and fascism.

In the last few months, Tea Party activists have shifted the direction of a number of Republican primary races, shifting the Republican party to the right and risking their chances of winning or retaining those Senate seats.

In Florida, Governor Charlie Crist was challenged by the further-right candidate Marco Rubio, and Crist eventually left the Republican party to run as an independent. While Rubio is still the frontrunner and may well win the seat, there is now a high chance that the Republicans will lose the seat to the newly independent Crist.

In Kentucky, a solidly red state, the Republican primary chose Rand Paul, son of Texas congressman Ron Paul, over the establishment candidate. Paul made a number of controversial comments immediately after winning the primary, criticising President Obama for being critical of BP for their role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and defending the right of businesses to discriminate on the basis of race. Since then, Paul’s campaign has settled down, and he is the favourite to win, but his lead over Democratic candidate Jack Conway is not very solid, and he is having to campaign hard in a state that would normally go easily to a Republican.

In Alaska, incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski was seen as one of the more moderate Republicans, although hardly out of the Republican mainstream. Murkowski was challenged by Joe Miller, who received the endorsement of former Governor Sarah Palin. Like in Kentucky, the Republican candidate in Alaska is still the frontrunner in the Senate race, but Miller’s victory energised supporters of Democratic candidate Scott McAdams, with Democratic bloggers raising substantial sums of money for a Democrat running in such a small state.

In Delaware, a state dominated by Democrats, the seat previously filled by Vice President Joe Biden will be filled in a special election in November. The Republican establishment swung in behind Mike Castle, who has held Delaware’s only seat in the House of Representatives since 1992. Castle was challenged by Christine O’Donnell, who won the primary with the active support of Tea Party groups. Prior to the primary it was predicted that the Democrats had little to no chance of retaining their seat in Delaware, but O’Donnell is now the underdog in the Senate race.

There is no doubting that the Tea Party movement has revitalised the Republican party after their large defeats at the 2006 and 2008 elections, giving the party a platform on which to fight the Obama administration, and motivating Republicans to vote in the midterms, when it is notoriously difficult to get voters to turn out. On the other hand, the Republicans are aiming for a large victory that could possibly give them ten more Senate seats and a Senate majority. They won’t be able to do that without winning solid blue states like Delaware, or falling short in usually reliable states such as Florida, Kentucky and Alaska.

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