In all our diatribes from both sides, we seem to forget sometimes that the voting public is the ultimate foundation of what this nation is about. Period. End of any argument. In 2008, the majority of Americans believed inwhat the Democrats were offering. That includes both houses of Congress- don't put all the blame on Obama. There's an irony that a only a conservative would say "It's bad because it's not the same old party." That's what conservatives want, by definition- the same old thing.

We will see what happens in 2010 & 2012. The extreme right is screaming loudest right now, but they represent only 18% of the actual electorate. It's the vote count that matters, and I think many people clearly see how obstructionist the Republicans in the Senate are being by threatening to filibuster everything. This will win them points with the radical right, but for most Americans it just shows partisanship. They have paralyzed the government and only the Tea movement thinks that's a good thing.
Every radical right candidate that defeats a more "moderate" Republican is handing a victory to the Democrats in districts that might ordinarily vote moderately conservative.

Of course, we could barter chickens over this-the way they did in the good old days, according to one of your rising stars (who just got trounced in the primaries!)