Is Tea Party On Last Legs?

Is it last call for the tea party? Consider these recent developments: Late Thursday: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a possible presidential candidate in 2016, ridicules fellow Republicans as the “stupid party” and urges Washington Republicans to get over their obsession with cutting budgets. Friday afternoon: The office of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, another would-be Republican presidential candidate, declares that he will not go along with a plan, hatched by conservative legislators, to rewrite the state’s election laws in a way that would stack Virginia’s electoral votes against Democrats. Late Friday: Fox News says it has parted ways with Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate and tea-party darling whose following had shriveled/ Dana Milbank , Washington Post. More here. (2010 AP file photo of former VP candidate Sarah Palin in Reno, Nev., speaking to Tea Party event in Reno, Nev.)

Question: The Tea Party remains strong in Kootenai County, with two wings of the local Republican Party vying for its mantle: United Conservatives of North Idaho (Tea Party Hard Core) and Reagan Republicans (Tea Party Lite). But do you think the Tea Party nationwide is going way of the dodo?