Tea Party Candidates in 2010: "They'll Make it in November"

The Tea Party has increased in both size and profile during the past year, most recently making a splash in Alaska's GOP Senate primary, where the Tea Party Express is credited with helping Joe Miller pull off a victory over Senator Lisa Murkowski. With November midterm elections just two months away, Kate Zernike, author of "Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America" says incumbent Republicans in Congress should pay attention if they intend to hold on to their elected offices. A recent Fox News Opinion Dynamics poll found that 70% of voters currently disapprove of the job everyone in Congress is doing.

Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, Zernike said she thinks "a lot of Tea Party candidates are going to make it in November." Suggesting Republicans take their own advice, Zernike cites the election of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to the seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy as an example of growing unrest among voters. After Brown was elected, Republicans touted the win, while at the same time reminding those within the party, "don't think this can't happen to you."

Zernike says voters are both "upset and concerned" when it comes to the economy, and "are looking for someone to blame." She adds, the same winds of change that ushered in President Obama have returned, and unhappy voters have set their sights on establishment candidates in November.

If candidates endorsed by the Tea Party, such as Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell are elected in November, they'll have to foster a relationship with establishment Republicans in Congress, something that could be tricky given the sometimes contentious relations between the two groups.

For more of our Days to Decide coverage, log on to http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/days-to-decide.htm