I 100% agree with magley's #62 post and find myself in a similar situation. I heard a quote this weekend, "the Democratic Party tends to disempower its leftist extreme, while the GOP empowers their far right." That matches my observation to a Tea.
Then again, I'm a moderate who values compromise and progress with common causes. You know, everything an OWS and Tea Party member loathes, and for now at least, that thinking is more welcome in progressive circles than conservative ones.
Will the GOP be able to change that by asserting the value of governance? One hopes, but it's not looking good so far.