• On the basis of the polling…the Republicans went from being extremely likely to win the race to extremely likely to lose it.
• Political handicapper Nate Silver • Regarding the state of Delaware’s Senate race now that Christine O’Donnell is the GOP nominee. The tea party darling came from behind to defeat former governor and nine-term congressman Mike Castle, who would have been a gimme in November, in yesterday’s primary.source

• winThe biggest bellwether of the night was in Delaware, where Christine O’Donnell somehow showed lifelong GOPer Mike Castle the exit in their Senate race. The GOP isn’t backing her.
• lose? While Delaware’s Senate race went Tea Party, New Hampshire’s Senate race is still close. Kelly Ayotte is tied with Ray LaMontagne’s possible long-lost brother Ovide LaMontagne.
• winThe most surprising of the three? Rick Lazio’s gubernatorial primary loss in New York to complete frickin’ unknown Carl “gonna lose to Cuomo anyway” Paladino. source

• 1 beard in the United States Senate if Alaska’s Joe Miller gets elected source

• 87,000 showed up, give or take a few source

• Who are the Koch brothers? In what has to be one of the best senses of timing ever, The New Yorker just put up a lengthy article about Charles and David Koch, multi-billionaires, the owners of Koch Industries, and two long-time libertarian leaners who back the Americans for Prosperity organization, which has been something of a root backer of the Modern Tea Party movement. And thanks to a just-filed IRS complaint regarding the ad series above, we’ll be hearing more about the Koch Brothers in the next couple of weeks.

• longtime libertariansThe brothers have deep roots in the libertarian movement, and David Koch actually ran for vice-president 30 years ago. The brothers found the process wasteful, and decided to work behind the scenes instead. So they ended up underwriting the libertarian movement. Then the Tea Party came along.
• Very hands-offUnlike other big financial backers of political leaders like George Soros, they go out of their way to be hands-off from what their money does, and instead let the money do the work. While they’re very active in the philanthropy community, their Americans for Prosperity work does not bear their signature.
• Tax-exempt statusAmericans for Prosperity is in a bit of trouble right now because they’ve been running ads that are inherently political in possible violation of their tax-exempt status, which says their work has to be nonpartisan. The organization says that their work is protected by the first amendment. source

• Local Bloggers don’t really care about the rally. They see so many of them that they’re pretty much old hat at this point. In fact, sites like DCist or We Love DC didn’t even give tomorrow’s Glenn Beck rally a second notice until this hilarious guide hit the popular consciousness, starting on those blogs and eventually making its way onto Rachel Maddow’s show. They neutered it and turned it into a PR opportunity. (Smart move.) As a DC-based blog, we would like to point out a couple of things: One, we just saw a couple using the Metro tonight who blocked the aisle on the train with a couple of hunting-camo lawn chairs. Two, the nice thing about DC is that it’s a diverse city, so you might want to consider hitting U Street and checking out a show at The Black Cat. Trust us. source

View The Tea Party Guide to DC in a larger map

• To our friends visiting Washington on August 28th to take part in Glenn Beck’s no-longer-9/12 protests: Here’s your map. (And some guy also made a dead-serious guide, too.) Visit the monuments, but don’t you dare leave the blue zone, or you’ll be in the red zones that signify D.C. You don’t want to be caught dead in Dupont Circle. It’s the ‘hood. source

• The solution isn’t just to paralyze government. Vote for us because you couldn’t possibly vote for them? That’s not enough. It may win some seats, but it won’t take you where you want to be.
• Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio • Appearing to make a break from the Modern Tea Party script. Why’s that? Well, uh, Charlie Crist went independent and turned Rubio’s plan to be a hard-line conservative candidate upside down. So now he has to say things like this to appease the moderates that Crist is going to win over in the election because he didn’t give in. Remember, guys, the Marco Rubio you’re voting for isn’t the one who says things like this. It’s the one who gave this speech at CPAC. He only moderated himself out of necessity. source

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• The ManifestoDick Armey, former House Majority Leader, published a manifesto in today’s Wall Street Journal (along with Matt Kibbe) explaining what the “Tea Party Movement” wants. It’s epic. “But let us be clear about one thing,” they write. “The tea party movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party, but a hostile takeover of it.”

   

  The antidoteIn case you’re a lefty and need an antidote after reading that whole thing, some genius satirist decided to make a bunch of faux Modern Tea Party shirts with funny slogans. And all of them are rip-roaringly hilarious. Trust us. We can’t stop laughing. source