Tea Party Focus Turns to Senate and Shake-Up

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
looks on as Republican leadership speaks to
reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington,
May 8, 2012. (Photo: Luke Sharrett /
The New York Times)

Sunday, 13 May 2012 09:27  
By Jonathan Weisman and Jennifer Steinhauer, 
The New York Times News Service | Report 

Washington - The primary victory of a Tea Party-blessed candidate in Indiana illustrates how closely Republican hopes for a majority in the Senate are tied to candidates who pledge to infuse the chamber with the deep-seated conservatism that has been the hallmark of the House since the Republicans gained control in 2010.

Richard E. Mourdock, who last week defeated Senator Richard G. Lugar, a six-term incumbent, promises to bring an uncompromising ideology to Capitol Hill if he prevails in November. And he is not the only Senate candidate who contends that Senate Republicans are badly in need of new blood.

In Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, Republican Senate candidates are vying for the mantle of Tea Party outsider. A number of them say that they would seek to press an agenda that is generally to the right of the minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and that they would demand a deeper policy role for the Senate’s growing circle of staunch conservatives.

Some say they have not decided whether they would support Mr. McConnell, who could find himself contending with the type of fractious rank and file that has vexed the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio.  READ MORE