Nobody even blinked when Tea Partier Joe Carr said,
"over and over and over again Lamar Alexander has shown a willingness to work with the other side instead of standing with our side"
Think about that. "A willingness to work with the other side" used to be the definition of a statesman, a deal maker, a problem solver.
The only time politicians won't "work with the other side" is when the other side is so unreasonable, so rigid, so extreme, so evil, that there is no common ground, no room for compromise, no role for negotiation at all.
The radicals in the Republican party have been there for a long time, starting with Lee Atwater and Newt Gingrich back in the 90's, but those look like the good times now. They've purged their ranks of all but the fanatics or those too timid to oppose them.
Expecting some sort of reasonableness and willingness to negotiate from the opposition is the mistake Harry Reid and Pres. Obama made. It took them 6 years to realize you can't negotiate with terrorists. Their recent actions on the nuclear option, immigration, LGBT etc., show they've finally recognized reality. They have to do what they can with their allies alone.
There is no middle ground; there is no possibility of compromise. This is a battle to the death.
Jim Hightower said it best:
"There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos"