Ten questions for the midterms

1. How real is the tea party effect?

A side effect of the conservative enthusiasm permeating the electoral landscape has been, well, conservative enthusiasm. And the ultra-conservatives aren’t content to put impure conservative Republicans in office. There are plenty of primary challenges taking place, but it remains to be seen whether the vast majority of these anti-establishment candidates can actually put up a fight. Only time and money will tell, but conservatives like Marco Rubio in Florida’s Senate race and Rand Paul in Kentucky’s provide something of a roadmap for these outsiders.