Should Rep. Andre Carson apologize to Tea Party Activists?

Running out of TEA...

At first blush the tea party's main goals of controlling government spending and holding down taxes seemed reasonable considering so many families have been struggling to pay bills, put food on the table, keep jobs and hold onto their houses.

But activists left a sour taste by using such false claims as "death panels" in an unsuccessful effort to derail health care reform, and with segments embracing "birthers" who ridiculously challenged the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency. It is a movement that has generated much heat, but not a lot of light, with plenty of complaints but not many solutions beyond non-specific demands to cut government and reduce waste.

The results of recent House and Senate primaries in three states this week suggest that the movement may not be so strong after all, at least when it comes to getting people elected.

Tuesday night was a big night for mainstream Republicans who withstood tea-party challenges:

• In Indiana, former Sen. Dan Coats, backed by traditional GOP supporters, defeated state Sen. Marlin Stutzman, a tea-party favorite, and former Rep. John Hostettler.

• In North Carolina's 6th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Howard Coble, who first won his seat in 1984, held off a field of five opponents, including tea-party favorites.

• In Delaware County, Ohio, prosecutor David Yost also defeated a tea-party favorite, state Rep. Seth Morgan, for the Republican nomination for auditor.

Also notably, turnout in all the races was exceptionally low, showing that instead of rising up in anger to throw incumbents out of office, dissatisfied voters may simply stay away this fall, when 36 seats in the Senate and all 435 in the House are on the ballot.

With polls showing Congress's approval rating at an all-time low of about 20 percent, anti-incumbent sentiment is understandable, but apathy never should be. The best way to express voter dissatisfaction is by casting ballots, not by staying home.

A few results do not make a trend, but it does point out that rallies are not enough. Winning campaigns takes a strategy and organizing - a lesson left-wing movements learned in the 1960s and 1970s when massive demonstrations did not translate to election victories.

The election process is just beginning. In the mean time, tea-party activists have some work to do if they hope to bring about change at the ballot box. Otherwise, their movement may amount to little more than a tempest in a teapot.