The Tea Party won't hurt Republicans as much as Democrats hope it will. - By David Weigel - Slate Magazine

Bouncers for the Tea PartyDemocrats hoped the Tea Party would rebel against Republicans. It's not happening.

By David WeigelPosted Friday, July 9, 2010, at 10:04 AM ET

A Tea Party rally in San FranciscoPlease, don't get the impression that Everett Wilkinson hates third parties. Or that he likes Republicans. "I'm one of those people who thinks Republicans, in many cases, have messed up as much as Democrats," says the South Florida-based Tea Party activist. "The Republican majority we used to have is just as responsible for the deficit as the Democrats." Yet Wilkinson is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit to get a third party—which also calls itself the "Florida Tea Party"—to give up its name. When I ask whether the ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to prevent the "Tea Party" from hurting the GOP, Wilkinson drops the pox-on-both-houses talk. Instead he sounds like Karl Rove with a whiteboard, pointing out the races in which the "Tea Party" could ge