The nascent Tea Party movement continues to show its reach and influence, and the Republican Party is learning how to align itself with and harness the energy of the movement to push its agenda. Scott Brown’s defeat of lethargic Martha Coakley in Massachusetts was a strategic triumph that caught a distracted and stretched Democratic Party completely off guard. Either this defeat will wake up the Democrats and spur them to rally around some legislative reforms that appeal to the “working man” for a series of quick wins that restore the faith of the voters, or it will cause them to fragment even more and sustain sweeping losses in the midterms. I can’t say I’m optimistic about their chances, and it is disappointing that neglect of the economy has once again put the kibosh on badly needed health care reform, doubly unfortunate as unemployment stays historically high.