Back when I lived in Houston I was listening to Michael Berry. He was talking about a guy, supported by the Tea Party who had the audacity to run against David Douhurst, the Bush appointee and GOP pick to run instead. They campaigned against him as hard as any democrat could or would. Lavin picked Cruz up and endorsed him as well. Thing was, the more people came out against him, the more the Chronicle said he would lose. In the end, he won. Those in the political ruling class as well as their water boys in the main stream media should learn from this. Those who keep referring to "The Cruz Wing" of the Republican party or "speaker of the house Cruz" may end up with a nasty surprise come November 2014.
Not likely, if 2010 and 2012 were any indication.
The TPM does well in gerrymandered bright red districts, but outside of those districts things get problematic.
When an election concerns state-wide races, the TPM tends to lose.
Take 2010, for example: TPM candidates lost in state-wide senatorial campaigns in Nevada, Colorado, and Connecticut, and lost gubernatorial races in California and New York.
National indifference, and in some cases animosity and opposition, to the TPM has only grown since then. And the shutdown is only reinforcing that resentment toward the TPM.