Actually, this New York Times piece is a little more optimistic about the chances of many tea party candidates than I would have expected. Still, their number of tea party backed candidates who are ahead at this point - 33 is slightly below other estimates I've seen:Of 129 Tea Party candidates for the House, 7 are running in solidly Republican districts - all but one of those seats is now held by a Republican. Another 7 are running for seats currently held by Democrats but in districts leaning toward the Tea Party Republican.Nineteen are in tossup races, for seats that are held, with the exception of two, by Democrats. And 29 are running for seats in districts that are leaning Democratic - of those, only one is currently held by a Republican. Sixty-seven are challenging Democrats who are expected to win - though this is a year when the unexpected has been more rule than exception.In the Senate, there are 9 Tea Party candidates running for a potential of 27 seats - not including those...(Read Full Post)