Win or lose, how much influence will TPers have?

That question, well-raised here, is good for not just 2010, but 2012.

Utah's Orrin Hatch might well remember in 2012 what happened to his colleague, Robert Bennett, this year.

And, could enough Maine TPers force Olympia Snowe to run as an independent then? If so, I hope that Dems don't do a Lieberman with her, but rather, set preconditions on allowing her to caucus. Much of this will depend on Lisa Murkowski's independent run in Alaska.

As noted, there's two ways for Dems with cojones to counter all this.

1. Aggressively pursue the senior citizen vote, since they have high turnout and many TPers want to cut Social Security. Unfortunately, savvy seniors probably know the details of Obama's debt commission, which undercuts this.
2. Promote the faux-populism angle, with the tie-in to Charles and David Koch, above all else, along with other billionaires.

But, I said "Dems with cojones." Don't hold your breath.