Whenever a party loses badly, as the GOP did recently, you get a withdrawal of mainstream participants, leaving a vacuum that can be filled by others. On the other side, you get people focused on those that fill the vacuum, as the Dems have. But really, that is a temporary state, until the side now in power starts to look weak. As the Dems are currently looking. Then you get something like this, G.O.P. Seeks to Widen Field of Play in Fall Elections – NYTimes.com, where the mainstream participants — in this case, from the GOP — start to reengage.
How you see this depends on your affiliation. Regardless, the idea that the the Tea Partiers and Sarah Palin followers were ever going to lead the GOP was not very likely. Instead, it’s going to be people like Scott Brown in Massachusetts and Mike Pense in Indiana who will become the next leaders. I am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just the way it is.
Perhaps the Tea Partiers and the Sarah Palin followers will feel that they paved the way for these new leaders. Whether that is true can be determined by how much Senators like Scott Brown listen to them. My belief is the answer is: not much. And that too is just the way it is.
Now we will see the “winners” return. Winners only play when they can win. For them, it’s not about participating so much as it is about winning.
Smart People I Know 
Good post. I agree.