At Tea Party Helm, a Seasoned Hand

By PETER WALLSTEN And DANNY YADRON
WSJ

Within the fragmented tea-party movement reshaping American politics, one group has proved especially skilled at winning elections.

The Tea Party Express played a central role upending Republican primaries in Nevada, Alaska and, this week, Delaware, raising millions of dollars to help topple candidates favored by GOP bosses.

Most groups in the populist tea-party movement channel their energies through grass-roots organizing and social networking. The Tea Party Express, by contrast, is driven by a Republican consultant with a more conventional approach.

Sal Russo, 63 years old, a longtime California GOP operative and former aide to Ronald Reagan, runs Tea Party Express out of his Sacramento, Calif., consulting firm.

As chief strategist, he sends out solicitation emails to the group's list of 400,000 addresses—carrying subject lines such as "Harry Reid Doesn't Want You to See This"—and crafts the messages carried in TV and radio ads and in mailings.

(More here.)