Its unfortunate to say the least to see how so much of the left have swallowed the corporatist bait here.
If the Democratic Party is in trouble this election cycle - its in part because instead of rejecting the agenda of corporatists and standing up bravely for the American people - too many are using anti Tea Party hysteria as a pretext to run FURTHER into the arms of corporatists
A typical statement from confused leftists might be: "we know they are not perfect, but if we do not elect such and such corporatist Democratic toady (fill in the blank) - such and such Tea Party GOPer will win."
Ultimately - the above scenario is a win-win situation for multi-national corporate interests and a lose-lose situation for the American people.
After 2008 - the Republican Party was dead in the water. The Tea Party - essentially a corporate-owned media creation - may have remained solely a straw man and not a legitimate threat if some in the left had not taken the bait and ran with the Tea Party as bogeyman with which to prop up corporatist Democrats.
In a better world - this election cycle would be filled with scads of genuine progressive primary challenges to corporatist Democratic incumbents.
With a corporate-owned media that is devoted to limiting progressive voices to make it seem like we are some sort of minority fringe group - it makes winning elections very, VERY difficult - but caving into these corporatist strategies and supporting corporate lackey Democrats can not be the solution.
I'm not sure of what the solution is - but think ignoring all these idiotic Tea Party antics would be a step in the right direction. They are pulling us backwards - not forwards.