Something may have gone wrong there too in a number of cases. I am seeing more and more of the Sharon Angle's , Rand Paul's and others that are backtracking on prior statements about Social Security reform, the fair tax and repealing Obama-care mandates. It is not just that they fold under political pressure, it is also that they have not thought out a way to articulate their beliefs beyond their primary voters. It is like they never thought beyond the primaries except try to deny they ever took those positions.
SS reform is really getting to me. Democrats are attacking Republicans for proposing SS reform, while claiming that SS is paying for itself (an outright lie, the SS IOUS are being redeemed by the treasury adding to the national debt ) and many of these ‘conservatives’ are running too scared to even point out why it makes sense to reform SS, why it is a problem.
I think of the Tea Party as an attitude, not necessarily any individual(s). Many have tried to avoid the TP while painting them as whackjobs; others have tried to take it as their own. IMO, without defining a specific mission or platform of the TP, it is hard to say who is and who is not a member/leader. Mostly, I see politicians using it for political gain which is exactly NOT what it was about at the onset. Call me a tea partier of the Santelli 2008 breed, LOL.
With respect to California, the tea party or something like it (eg.g. a massive grassroots effort) is about the only way to get the GOP ‘leadership’ to change their path of wanting to be a “purple party.” JMHO