I look at it this way: for all of the whining by leftists about the TEA party, the fact is that many Americans can see the obvious. There is WAY too much government spending, there is WAY too much interference by the government in our lives, and the debt is piling up faster than ever before. No one is stopping the flood of illegal immigrants crossing the border. The current party in power seemed to think that this was just all fine and dandy.
So, Americans replaced them. Not angry Republicans, nor Angry Democrats but plain Americans.
And if the Republicans f**k up, they'll get replaced just as fast., just like in 2006 and 2008. I'm under the impression that many people voted for Idi Amin Jr. and his crowd thinking that the man actually meant what they thought he said when he talked about fundamental change. Unfortunately, they weren't listening very closely. Their version of change was to make us another socialist democracy like Greece.
The upside is that most people in this country see the imminent danger of the deficit and illegal immigration to stay hopping mad for quite some time until these things actually get fixed. Anybody who has actually balanced a checkbook could see the obvious problems. Americans have gotten used to being on the top of the heap, and aren't quite ready to let someone else be the "world leader," especially if the current pack or potential candidates are little more than communist dictatorships.
People who are pessimistic about the results are choosing not so see what's really going on. The dogs are finally getting beaten into submission.