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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The Tea Party and the GOP Presidential Nomination

    During the debt-ceiling debate, one prominent pundit said Tea Party members of Congress of "[held] the nation hostage" by refusing to compromise. A Wall Street Journal poll showed negative views of the Tea Party doubled between January and July.  So how much influence will it have in next year's election?

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    During the debt-ceiling debate, one prominent pundit said Tea Party members of Congress of "[held] the nation hostage" by refusing to compromise. A Wall Street Journal poll showed negative views of the Tea Party doubled between January and July. So how much influence will it have in next year's election? Last night, CNN made Tea Party groups co-sponsors of a two-hour, prime-time debate between Republican presidential candidates. Before the debate, the cable-news outlet worked with Tea Party groups to recruit the audience and ask some of the questions. Who's in the Tea Party? How have they changed Congress? How did they change the shape of a contest that still hasn't settled down?

    Websites of Republican presidential candidates:

    Newt Gingrich

    Michele Bachmann

    Mitt Romney

    Rick Perry

    Ron Paul

    Herman Cain

    Jon Huntsman, Jr

    Rick Santorum

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

    • KCRW placeholder

      Mike Wilson

      Cincinnati Tea Party

    • KCRW placeholder

      Wayne Slater

      journalist and author

    • KCRW placeholder

      Alan Abramowitz

      Emory University

      NewsNationalPolitics
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