ABSTRACT
The 2014 GOP primaries will show whether the Tea Party was indeed just an AstroTurf invention, as many liberals have claimed, or a true grassroots movement, as most conservatives proclaim. While the Tea Party was controlling the GOP after the government shutdown, that same Tea Party is the big loser of the failed attempt to block the raising of the debt ceiling. The fact that the (mostly non-Tea Party) Republicans in Congress caved and changed their position on the debt ceiling is in no way evidence that the Tea Party is a pure AstroTurf phenomenon. Equally important is that many surveys show remarkable support for the Tea Party and its extreme positions. The real challenge for "moderate" Republicans, then, is to find an issue that will mobilize both "moderate" and "Tea Party" Republicans. The "moderate" GOP is increasingly a party with money but without (active) supporters.
