For G.O.P., Tea Party Wields a Double-Edged Sword

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/us/politics/06teaparty.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Christine O’Donnell, running in Delaware to be the Republican nominee for the Senate seat once held by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., is a perennial candidate with a history of financial problems, including unpaid taxes and a home in foreclosure. Representative Michael N. Castle, her opponent in the primary, is a veteran congressman and former governor who has won statewide elections more than 10 times.

But Ms. O’Donnell has the backing of the Tea Party, and suddenly Delaware has become the latest Republican civil war battlefield. National Tea Party groups are pouring money into Ms. O’Donnell’s campaign, while establishment Republicans are attacking her with more ferocity than they have shown toward the Democrat in the race, worried that Ms. O’Donnell is the bigger threat to the party’s winning the seat in November.

The battle in Delaware is just the latest reminder that as much as the Tea Party fervor is expected to help Republicans in November, it may also create problems for them — and opportunities for the Democrats.

(snip)
The Democrats are playing up the candidates’ support for things that are standard Tea Party positions, but unpopular among most Americans: getting rid of the Departments of Energy, Commerce and Education; phasing out Social Security and Medicare; and instituting a 23 percent national sales tax to replace the income tax.