The establishment GOP must recognize their credibility is also in tatters. For too many years, party leaders promised less spending and elimination of wasteful, duplicative and corrupt federal programs. But it was business as usual in Washington when Republican leaders had the power to deliver on their talk. Today, party leaders will cause more electoral disasters if they think merely talking conservative reform will restore them to power.

Similarly, leaders of the Tea Party movement must recognize that there are no magic solutions that will restore American greatness overnight. As the Patriot Post’s Mark Alexander wrote in a recent letter to supporters, “it will, at best, take many election cycles to re-establish the primacy of first principles and the rule of law, and to reset our course toward liberty.”

So, just as the establishment GOP cannot expect to talk its way back into power without producing credible results on federal balance sheets, Tea Party leaders must constantly remind grassroots activists that freedom and prosperity cannot be regained by winning one election or shutting down the government over a one-time demand that a failed liberal program be defunded.