So how did they do? What happened and what does it mean for the GOP?
Blogs of each side are weighing in and some are covering it in depth. Here’s a look via Hardball of the views of the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson and the Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page:
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The bottom line: GOPers will say it was the greatest event since the FIRST Tea Party and Democrats will call it a flop, but as Robinson notes it does suggest the seeds are there for Republican populist expression, providing it doesn’t go overboard (no pun intended). The Secret Service became skittish in Washington. The main question, though, is will there be a GOPer who will soon emerge as the party’s face and new de factor leader?. Talk show hosts who say they want the current President to fail don’t win independents or skeptical Democrats.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.