IT’S TELLING THAT THAT’S THEIR MAIN GOAL: The Counterattack: Has the Republican establishment finally found a way to vanquish the tea party? If the Tea Party is “vanquished,” there are two likely outcomes. One is that a lot of voters get demoralized and stay home. The other is a third party. Neither is a good thing for the GOP — if, that is, its goal is to win on a national scale. And while the Tea Party gets blame for loser candidates like Christine O’Donnell or Sharron Angle, the establishment has thrown up plenty of losers of its own. Meanwhile all the energy comes from Tea Party backed candidates like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul. “Electability” is fine. But selecting for tractability isn’t.