In a federal republic, in which none of the GOP candidates on the stage at the Tea Party/CNN debate are currently members of the Senate, and the only two members of the House are backbenchers who often cast lonely votes in dissent, where the candidates come from and what they have had to or have chosen to do makes a significant difference, and becomes a target for opponents.

Most observers agree that the Hazare movement has awakened the traditionally inward-looking Indian middle class to a public cause. Now the newly awakened need to go a step further and start voting, running for office, and backing candidates who embody their values.

Two recent, seemingly unrelated events weigh heavily on the question of whether America will remain able to protect its national security or languish in failed policies and a federal debt crisis that has led to our credit rating being downgraded.

The reported debt-limit deal appears to be a victory for the Tea Party: no tax increases, a new precedent that debt-limit hikes must be accompanied by equal or greater cuts in spending, and the potential for a balanced budget in 10 years.

In the latest AEI Political Report, the AEI Politics team looks at at the new phase of 2012 campaign from a variety of angles. 

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Republicans in Wisconsin and other states need to go the way of New Jersey and Virginia. Their leaders have seen that vast spending increases haven't generated jobs and tax hikes can choke economic recovery.If the press won't speak out, Republicans and Tea Partiers need to do it themselves.

It is outrageous how quickly so many jumped at the opportunity to politicize this tragic shooting, blaming the tea party and conservative political rhetoric without a shred of evidence to back those claims.

The liberal critics of Republicans want the GOP to behave itself and go back to the good old days best described by Eugene McCarthy’s quip that the chief purpose of moderate Republicans is to shoot the wounded after the battle is over. No thanks.