“‘I think time was the biggest factor, and if [Hoffman had] had a bit more time, he would have won,’ said Everett Wilkinson, a South Florida-based tea party organizer who was watching the contest closely. ‘I wouldn’t consider it a loss. I think we were successful.’

“‘He just got there late, that’s all,’ Armey said. ‘We think small-government conservatives had a big victory last night.'”

***
“What was learned Tuesday is that the American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly disgusted with both political parties. More than anything, the American voter is desperate for political leadership…

“Add another American metaphor to the political landscape: the cattle stampede. Independent voters across the U.S. have become like the massive cattle herd John Wayne drove from Texas to Kansas in ‘Red River.’ These voters are spooked and on the run, a political stampede that veered left in November 2008 and now right a mere year later. They will keep running—crushing incumbents, candidates and political models of the left and right—through November 2010 and onto 2012 until they find a person or party capable of leadership appropriate to our unsettled times. And yes, Virginia, the possibility of a man on a white horse in 2012 is not out of the question.”

***
“‘I think the conservative movement and the Republican leadership can pretty rapidly come to an agreement that defeating Pelosi in 2010 and Obama in 2012 is worth sorting things out for,’ Mr. Gingrich said.

“Mr. Gingrich said that throughout history, political leaders had emerged to steer parties to power by reconciling competing factions. Asked which Republicans had the stature to do so now, he replied: ‘That will happen. Or it will not.'”

***
“What happened to the change we can believe in?”