As Romney Rises, Tea Party Sees Senate as 'Bulwark'


"Conservatives in Nebraska are very concerned about Romney and disappointed that he may be the nominee," said John Arnold of the Lincoln Tea Party. "So the Senate has become much more important."

"Conservatives won't win every race they want, but they could win enough to double the size of the Senate's conservative contingent,"

"If Romney wins, he could go down in the history books as America's most conservative president."

"Not because he wants to," he added. "But because he will have to listen to the Senate."

Any conservatives elected would join a small cadre of tea party favorites already in the Senate, including Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Florida's Marco Rubio.

If more senators join them and Republicans end up with a majority, conservatives hope they will be able to force their agenda on Romney or Obama. They cite the example of the welfare reform undertaken by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1996 as an example of what a Republican-controlled Congress can achieve, regardless of who is in the White House.


http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/tea-party-republican-senate/2012/01/11/id/423885