Stung by a series of setbacks on must-pass legislation, Democrats think they’ve found a culprit: local tea party influence in the home states of usually reliable moderates.
In a span of just a few days, Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe have forced Democrats to dramatically scale back an unemployment benefits and tax bill, and they were part of a small coalition that effectively killed a bank tax tucked into a major Wall Street overhaul bill.
Democrats believe their positioning is no coincidence if one looks at what’s going on back in Maine.
The Maine Republican Party has moved fiercely to the right with a new party backed by tea partiers, and GOP voters nominated a gubernatorial candidate who emerged as a tea party favorite. More pressing for Snowe, however, is that some conservative activists want to find a primary challenger to run against her in 2012.
And it’s not just the Maine moderates whose right flank back home is causing consternation over votes in Washington.
