Paul’s Victory Poses Test for Tea Party on Defining Principles

By KATE ZERNIKE
NYT

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Rand Paul’s win in the Republican Senate primary here is the first authentic Tea Party victory — a candidate from the movement, powered by it.

But Mr. Paul’s campaign from now to November will present the young movement its toughest test yet — as voters focus on what the Tea Party is for, rather than what it is against.

Voters will have to decide whether they will embrace what Mr. Paul acknowledges are “tough choices” — like his proposals to raise the age of Social Security eligibility, to slash spending deeply enough to balance the budget every year even while cutting taxes and relying more on charity to provide the social services that the government has since the New Deal.

So far, the Tea Party’s victories have come largely as the result of voter protests. In Utah, Tea Party supporters helped vote out Senator Robert F. Bennett because they opposed his support of the bank bailout. They helped elect Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts to stop the health care bill. And while Tea Party backers helped Marco Rubio drive Gov. Charlie Crist from the Republican Senate primary in Florida, Mr. Rubio is not from the movement.

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