Tea Party gets foothold in Congress

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The Tea Party, which didn't exist two years ago, came out of the 2010 midterm elections as an influential force in contemporary American politics.

The movement, which is not, strictly speaking, a formal political party, finished with a mixed win-loss record in congressional and gubernatorial races -- posting victories over established, veteran political figures while losing some of its higher profile contests -- including U.S. Senate races in Nevada and Delaware.

One of the movement's highest priorities was to defeat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, but he rode a larger than expected turnout -- particularly among Latino voters -- to victory over Republican nominee Sharron Angle.

Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Angle said the Tea Party is really "Main Street America."

"We were able to inspire not only Nevadans but a country," she said. "America was waiting, was anxious, was desperate to support us."

In Delaware, Christine O'Donnell lost to Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons but said, after the outcome was clear, "we won."

O'Donnell said her upset win over the GOP establishment candidate in the primary means "the Delaware political system will never be the same. ... The Republican party will never be the same."

Marco Rubio, a Tea Party-backed candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida, won his race and said in his victory speech it would be "a grave mistake to view this as an embracing of the Republican Party.

"It's a second chance ... to be what they said they would be so long ago," he said.

Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, which coordinates chapters nationally, told The New York Times U.S. voters "admitted the mistakes they made two years ago" in Tuesday's elections. However, she echoed Rubio when she said the outcome was "not a Republican victory."

Another major priority for the Tea Party, one that was shared by establishment Republicans and conservatives in general, was to displace House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat who will likely turn the speaker's gavel over to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

"We are about to do the one thing that the American people want done, and that is to fire Pelosi," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told a party rally in Washington Tuesday night.

However, the success of Tea Party-backed House candidates could pose a problem for Boehner, Politico reported, forcing him to deal with a divided GOP caucus that will include freshmen members who see themselves as new revolutionaries -- while trying to work with veteran committee chairmen and a Democratic Party caucus that will be considerably more liberal because so many conservative Democrats were turned out Tuesday.

Boehner will also have to work with President Barack Obama but the two have scarcely had a working relationship to date, Politico said.

"We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people, change course, and commit to making the changes they are demanding," Boehner continued. "To the extent he is willing to do this, we are ready to work with him."

The White House issued a statement Tuesday night saying Obama called Pelosi and Boehner, as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"In his calls with Rep. Boehner and Sen. McConnell, the president said he was 'looking forward to working with him and the Republicans to find common ground, move the country forward and get things done for the American people,'" the White House statement said.