Election 2010

Tea Partiers Going Broke

Too many choices spreads the dollars thin.

Can you throw a tea party on a dime? Despite the favorable, anti-incumbent winds at their backs, tea-party candidates are struggling to make money; Republican primary challengers have raised 37 percent less than their Democratic counterparts, even though there are twice as many as them. "The problem with the tea-party movement is it has inspired too many candidates," says one failed tea-party candidate. “The movement will fail if it can't coalesce behind candidates who can win.” Asked about tea party candidates, who threaten to deplete GOP coffers and push the Republicans' general-election candidates to the right, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen said, “this is great news for us.”