Description
Book SynopsisThe 2010 elections were one of the most highly anticipated midterm elections in our nation''s recent history. After the historic 2008 election, in which America elected its first black president, Sarah Palin''s involvement and the emergence of the Tea Party in the 2010 congressional elections had the potential to transform the composition of congress and set the stage for the nation''s politics for the next decade, or even the next generation. In this new edited volume, Charles S. Bullock III collects original contributions from top political scientists to evaluate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party''s role in the 2010 midterm elections. Key States, High Stakes focuses on states where Republicans had the chance to pick up Senate seats, as well as examining GOP Senate primaries if they involved a Palin or a Tea Party nominee facing an establishment favorite. Bullock concludes the anthology with a chapter on the legacy of the Tea Party and of Sarah Palin on American politics. One thing is cer
Trade ReviewFocusing on sixteen high profile Senate races, Key States, High Stakes takes us on a cross-country tour of how these campaigns unfolded and how the role of the Tea Party movement and the involvement of Sarah Palin and other influential politicians [such as] South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint affected the outcomes. . . . Charles Bullock's stable of authors explain[s] why Republicans fell short in winning back the U.S. Senate. Key States, High Stakes is a must read for anyone who wants a detailed look at what factors contributed to GOP success and shortcomings in the most contentious and pivotal 2010 Senate contests. -- Seth C. McKee, University of South Florida at St. Petersburg
Much ink has been spilled over the Tea Party effect on the 2010 elections with little in the way of solid results. This interesting and informative book provides objective analyses of the important Senate races where the Tea Party and/or Palin or DeMint tried to influence the outcomes. The analyses of the individual races are interesting and conclusions regarding effects are analytical not ideological. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tea Party and the 2010 elections. -- David W. Brady, Professor, Stanford University
The focus on Senate races distinguishes this book from others. Contributors examine 16 different 2010 contests in order to investigate the roles that Sarah Palin, Senator Jim DeMint, and the Tea Party movement played in different contests. What emerges is the view that Palin was the most pragmatic, supporting candidates who were likely to win even if they were not the most conservative, while DeMint opposed "establishment" Republicans, and the Tea Party movement, which was not as centralized and monolithic as some commentators suggested, supported many candidates. In some states, different Tea Party factions supported different Republican candidates. While Palin, DeMint, and the movement often prevailed in primaries, in some cases the candidates they backed (O'Donnell, Delaware; Angle, Nevada; Buck, Colorado) proved to be easier for Democrats to beat, which permitted the party to retain a majority. It is also clear that while these conservative forces may have helped nominate a number of candidates in 2010, they were just one of many factors that worked against the Democrats in 2010. Bullock ends the book by asking whether the Tea Party was a one-election phenomenon or if it will be a force in 2012. The answer remains to be seen. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; undergraduate and graduate students. * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 The 2010 Elections Charles S. Bullock, III Part 1: Sarah Palin's Mama Grizzlies Chapter 2. Mama Grizzly Nearly Trapped: New Hampshire's Republican Senate Primary Dante J. Scala Chapter 3. Sacrificing Electoral Viability for Ideological Purity: Christine O'Donnell and the Delaware Senate Race Daniel C. Reed Chapter 4. Nevada: The Tea Party Takes on Harry Reid but from the Wrong Angle Ted G. Jelen Chapter 5. "A Deep Blue Hole"? California, the Tea Party, and the 2010 Midterm Elections Amy Widestrom and Christopher Dennis Part 2: Tea Party Favorites Chapter 6. Florida: A Plummeting Economy, Tea Parties, and Palin Give GOP a Clean Sweep Susan A. MacManus with the assistance of David J. Bonanza and Mary L. Moss Chapter 7. Randslide: Tea Party Success in the Establishment's Backyard Joel Turner and Scott Lasley Chapter 8. Ron Johnson: The Accidental Tea Partier Geoffrey Peterson Chapter 9. The Pennsylvania Senate Race: Toomey's Time Stanley P. Berard Chapter 10. Colorado: The Centennial State Bucks the National Trend M. Jean Kingston Chapter 11. The 2010 West Virginia Senate Race Robert Rupp Chapter 12. The 2010 Elections in New York Costas Panagopoulos Part 3 States Not in the Tea Party Play Book Chapter 13. Arkansas: The Kettle That Didn't Whistle Andrew Dowdle and Joseph D. Giammo Chapter 14. Coats vs. Ellsworth: The 2010 Indiana Senate Race Michael A. Maggiotto and Raymond H. Schelle Chapter 15. The Blue and the Red in the Land of Obama: The 2010 Midterms in Illinois Janna L. Dietz Chapter 16. The 2010 Washington U.S. Senate Race: Two Familiar Faces and Two Potential Wild Cards Edward Anegon and David Nice Chapter 17. Connecticut: Too Liberal to Be Palin's Cup of Tea Diana Evans Chapter 18. Conclusion: Evaluating Palin, the Tea Party, and DeMint Influences Charles S. Bullock, III Notes Index About the Authors
