Marathon Pundit: The Tea Party has yet to begin to fight

Pollak (right) with Marathon Pundit

Joel Pollak, editor-in-chief at Breitbart.com and the Republican candidate for Congress in 2010 where I live, tells us that not only is the Tea Party movement alive and well--it has yet to begin to fight.

Throughout the 112th Congress, Breitbart News continued to cover the Tea Party and its successes--from Gov. Scott Walker’s fight against Wisconsin’s public unions, to the Tea Party’s victories in knocking out establishment Republicans who had strayed from their principles and their constituents. But new media voices were sidelined by the super PACs, which absorbed millions of dollars in donations yet produced little to show for it.

Despite these challenges, the Tea Party has continued to succeed. The appointment of the South’s first black Senator since Reconstruction by South Carolina’s first female governor--both Tea Party candidates--is a milestone. The success of labor reforms in "progressive" Wisconsin and union-dominated Michigan marks a sea change in US politics. And thirty governors are now Republican, thanks largely to Tea Party support.

The Tea Party's most significant political achievement is placing the issue of spending in the spotlight, in Washington and across the nation. When even Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former White House chief of staff, feels compelled to cut spending and cut taxes, all while urging aldermen to begin paying attention to the city’s looming pension crisis, the Tea Party's effect on the nation’s political priorities cannot be ignored.