First Primaries / 2010 - Where's The (Tea) Party ?

Voting in the first Primaries of 2010 - in Ohio, North Carolina and Indiana - demonstrated a conspicuous absence of any indication of the influence of the Tea Party in Republican turnout.

Turnout in Ohio and North Carolina was light, and there were no upsets in either state - counter to the goals of the Tea Party, which intended to stir up its base early in the 2010 voting season with solid turnouts and influence. In Indiana, with heavy turnout, old hand - and moderate Republican - Dan Coats easily prevailed in the Senate Primary, 14 term incumbent Congressman Dan Burton sailed over 6 challengers, and incumbent Congressman Mark Souder hung in to win a tough race.

Incumbents in both parties prevailed in Ohio and North Carolina as well. Given the massive amount of press coverage and attention given to the Tea Party since its formation last year, results in the Primaries - where the tendency is for the most committed voters in both parties to turn out - indicate that when the time comes for people to face the reality of the impact of their vote, they choose common sense over emotion - heat over light.

It will be a fascinating exercise in Politics and human nature to witness the interaction of voting patterns and the turn of events over the course of time and geography in the coming Primary and General Election votes.