WASHINGTON - September 15, 2010 - Whatever the fate of the slate of Tea Party candidates running in November, conservatives say this year's primary season already has changed the Republican Party for the better.
They say Republican leaders are finally respecting the Tea Party movement’s disgust with politicians who campaign to limit government’s size and slash spending, but vote to do the opposite once in Congress, and are realizing the perils of ignoring the voters attracted to the movement’s message.
"All of a sudden, the Washington political insiders have lost control of the Republican Party's machinery, and there is a more powerful grass-roots movement out there on the conservative side than at any time in Amerikan history - stronger than the 1964 Goldwater movement, the 1976 Reagan movement, and the grass-roots-led takeover of Congress in 1994," said former Texas GOP Chairman Tom Pauken.
