Who Will the Tea Party Express Endorse

...and will it effect the race?

Tea Party Express: We will endorse by South Carolina. – CNN Press Room - CNN.com Blogs

In an interview today on CNN’s John King, USA, chairman of the Tea Party Express Amy Kremer spoke with CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King about the Tea Party’s influence in the 2012 GOP presidential race. "Well, I will tell you that Tea Party Express, we will be endorsing by South Carolina. And I believe that South Carolina is going to be a game-changer and going into Florida."

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they already blew it.

the train has already left the station.

the party is over.

the fat lady has sung.

I am running out of cliches.

The die is cast.

The Tea Party is going to have significantly less influence in regards to a national election due to the inability to tailor candidates to the particular region and the other political views that said particular segment of the country cares about or doesn't care about. With a Republican Primary, most of the candidates to some degree are going to represent tea party ideals, which means for most voters its going to come down to secondary issues that are not tea party related that make up who they vote for. There is not consensus as to what those views should or shouldn't be on a national level.

Somehow Kenny Roger's song "Gambler" comes to mind...and some people just have to learn when to "hold 'em and when to fold 'em". Have to wonder if they held on too long to impact the steamrolling MR express...or it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.

Krhazy said:

...and will it effect the race?

Tea Party Express: We will endorse by South Carolina. – CNN Press Room - CNN.com Blogs

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The loser. BOOM, ZING!!

Is it too late for Christine O'Donnell to throw her witch hat into the ring?

AdamT said:

Is it too late for Christine O'Donnell to throw her witch hat into the ring?

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I think she endorse Romney.

TPE, well it won't be Romney (maybe if he offered them enough $$) nor Paul. Probably Sant/Newt/Perry, doesn't matter.

Hmm kind of an interesting question. Their endorsement could actually hurt a candidate in the general. Whoever the GOP candidate ends up being, they don't want to be seen by even a small percentage of the population, as a "tea party candidate". The Tea Party's approval is below 20% at the moment, making them the most loathed political, religious or racial identity in the country. A Tea Party endorsement might cost the candidate moderate votes.

BUT, that isn't the whole story. That 20% is fairly fanatical. Romney is struggling to get support from the conservative base. That means low turnout and turnout is crucial for a Republican candidate. When the GOP wins it tends to be largely because they had massive turnout. If Romney can't turn people out, he can't win. So, a Tea Party endorsement might help him with turnout.

I'm not really sure which factor is bigger. It could be that it would help some candidates and hurt others to get it. Certainly it would help more in the primary and hurt more in the general.