Come To The Aid Of The Party

An NBC poll shows the Tea Party movement is polling better than either the Republicans or the Democrats. Not hard to believe. The donkey and the elephant are highly unpopular right now.

Can this be translated into a successful third party and electoral gains? That sure would be fun, but almost certainly not.

For one thing, there are institutional strengths the Dems and the Repubs enjoy that make them almost impossible to knock off except in minor elections here and there.

Second, the Tea Party is riding high on outrage right now. They haven't been screened closely yet (though the hysterical attacks from the left, admittedly, haven't hurt them) and when (or if?) the general outrage subsides, where will the Tea Party be?

Third, it'd only be a matter of time before part or all of the Tea Party is coopted by one or both of the major parties--that's always been how third parties have the most effect in American politics.

Nevertheless, I'm sure the Democrats would love to see the Tea Party make a go of it. Short of unemployment data doing a major reversal, I can't imagine anything else likely to help the Dems so much.