Those likely gains would seem to be good news for the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell (Ky.). But the prospects of Paul, Angle and other “true believers” in the Senate will almost certainly make it more difficult for McConnell to assert the rigid voting discipline that GOP strategists credit with bringing Republicans back from the brink of political extinction over the past 18 months.
“It’s hard to imagine, if elected, they could be ‘controlled’ by Mitch McConnell or anyone else,” Republican strategist John Weaver said of the tea party candidates. “And perhaps that isn’t a bad thing. Control and moving away from party orthodoxy on spending issues and competence is what gave impetus to the tea party movement.”…
It’s worth noting that GOP moderates — a dying breed in recent years — are likely to get reinforcements of their own. Reps. Mark Kirk (Ill.) and Mike Castle (Del.) built voting records in the House that placed them squarely at the center of that chamber, and it’s hard to see much changing if they are elected to the Senate. They would join the likes of Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and, increasingly, Scott Brown of Massachusetts in forming a legitimate — and powerful — moderate wing in the world’s greatest deliberative body.
“The role of ‘moderates’ will face extinction,” predicted one leading GOP moderate, referring to the impact of Paul and other tea partiers being elected.
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