The Republican senators who rode the tea party wave to victory in the fall are now weighing whether that label will help them on Capitol Hill or become a scarlet letter.
Thursday offered the first clear illustration of their situation as the newly formed Senate Tea Party Caucus held its inaugural meeting without three of the senators who won election under the tea party banner.
The three senators include Wisconsin's Johnson who defeated Russ Feingold, Florida's Marco Rubio, and Toomey of Pennsylvania.
"Some people said when the tea party was elected, Washington would co-opt us," Paul said at Thursday's meeting. "The interesting thing is we're already co-opting Washington."
But Johnson, Rubio and Toomey are avoiding this association and instead working within the Senate's existing Republican structures to influence the legislative agenda. The three may have rationalized that they would stand a better chance of advancing their ideas from inside the clubby confines of the Senate establishment. ...WaPo
