Republican Party

The New York 26th

Democratic candidate Kathy Hochul's historic victory in this district where Democratic victories have been decidedly scarce is the consequence of two huge Republican missteps.

First, they empowered and pandered to the tea party, and now they're getting burned. If the wackaloon tea party candidate hadn't been in the race, then the results would have been a dead heat.

Second, Paul Ryan's Medicare-killing budget plan is a psychobomb and it's destroying the Republican Party from within. Of course it's a direct result of pandering to the loud-but-not-large tea party wingnuts.

Unless there's some sort of major event, scandal or disaster that works against the Democrats (or the very real chance that they self-destruct), the Republicans are is serious danger of losing control of the House in 2012. If that's the case, history can truly record that the screeching of the tea party was, indeed, the modern Republican death rattle.

And the mantra lives on: Keep going, Republicans! You're doing great!