Was anyone else pushed to the Left by the Tea Party?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The TP probably pushed me to the right on economic issues; I quite liked their opposition to Obamacare and success at mobilizing voters against it back in 2010, and I was inclined to be more sympathetic to their views the more I saw of them. I found it difficult to identify as a TP member because of my socially liberal views (and, later on, as the name 'Tea Party' started to mean less and people affiliated with it began to piss away winnable races), but in its heyday I had a very positive opinion of the TP.

One of the biggest mistakes the Tea Party ever made was to go national on social issues in such fashion. One of the biggest initial appeals of the party was that it brought the GOP back to a small gov't footing and were it not for the former, there was a great missed opportunity in many parts of the country whereby the Tea PArty could be the bridge by which certain people returned to the Party after having been driven out by excesses of thel ate 1990's and early 2000's.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Not particularly. It was an organic movement of the people. What the Tea Party has made me feel though is strong distate for the weasely politicians who pander to them, lie to them, and give legitimacy to their weakest arguments. Here's how I see it: You can't blame "the people" for being unfamiliar with how government works; you can blame Ted Cruz for instigating a shutdown when he obviously knew better. It's the Ted Cruz types I hate; not the Tea Partiers themselves.

A movement seeking to dethrone the out-touch incumbents and their allies has the effect of providing numerous people with the chance to advance. Pat Toomey, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and so forth were all benefactors of this and we are better off on certain issues from having them. On the other hand, people like Dan Maes, Angle, Miller, O'Donnell, and Akin were able to also catch that ride and we have suffered as a party for that.