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For those who have wondered where the "tea party" movement goes next, US Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) of Minnesota, one of its key promoters, has an answer: The tea partyers鈥� platform of fiscal frugality, lower taxes, and a smaller government that adheres more closely to the Constitution, she says, will lead the GOP to a political resurgence.

Asserting that the tea party movement will come to 鈥渄ominate鈥� the GOP, Representative Bachmann told Fox News鈥檚 Bill O鈥橰eilly on 鈥淭he O鈥橰eilly Show鈥� Monday night:

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing is that the Republican Party is waking up to and recognizing that the real uprising happening across America isn鈥檛 just about Republicans, but disaffected Democrats and independents saying, 鈥榃ait a minute, the country isn鈥檛 working anymore, let鈥檚 get back to balance,' " said Bachmann, who will speak Feb. 6 at the Tea Party Nation convention in Nashville, Tenn.

President Obama seems to have gotten the memo, too, taking a decidedly more populist stance in recent days 鈥� ordering, for one thing, a partial federal spending freeze.

The tea party movement, which arose almost a year ago after passage of several federal bailout bills, grew into a national affair as irate protesters gathered repeatedly in small towns and big cities in objection to what they see as fiscal profligacy by both parties in Washington.

Mostly discounted at first, tea partyers subsequently became the target of liberals, who were fond of pointing out the movement's alleged intellectual shortcomings (made famous by the tea party protest sign 鈥淜eep your government hands off my Medicare鈥�). Now, liberal commentators acknowledge that the tea party movement cannot be dismissed as a fringe phenomenon and that it seems to represent the disaffected anger of parts of the huge American middle class. (That explains why GOP chairman Michael Steele is a fan, calling himself a tea partyer.)

As the tea party movement has grown in numbers, the question for many is how GOP moderates such as John McCain will fare if the party takes a hard turn right to abide the populist anger that lay behind recent Democratic losses. Democrats lost governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey last fall, and, last week, the surprise election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts upset the Democrats' fragile supermajority in the Senate.

The question related to GOP moderates is far from settled as various tea party factions bid for power. Good example: While the so-called 鈥榯ea party candidate鈥� in Arizona, J.D. Hayworth, is bent on unseating Senator McCain, Sarah Palin 鈥� another national tea party figure 鈥� , her former presidential running mate.

And polls show that Charlie Crist, a popular moderate in Florida, has lost his lead in a US Senate race to tea party challenger Marco Rubio, after prolonged attacks on Mr. Crist about spending increases and his acceptance of federal stimulus funds to plug gaps in the state budget.

Some are concerned that hard-right tea partyers will drive out moderates, thus distancing the entire party from the American mainstream.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a mobocracy that folks on the right should probably be worried about,鈥� says Robert Watson, a political-science professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing this litmus test, and tea party folks want a Rush Limbaugh or a Sean Hannity clone running the party.鈥�

But while the tea party seems riven with conflict 鈥� witness the hotly debated Tea Party Nation convention, from which some tea party groups are now distancing themselves 鈥� Bachmann argues that it is the party鈥檚 ideals, not its leaders, that are influencing the GOP and worrying Democrats.

The recent dust-up between Bachmann and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (D), in which he urged Bachmann to 鈥渁ct like a lady,鈥� showed post-Brown frustration among Democrats and unveiled 鈥渁rrogance" toward those who want to put the brakes on the progressive Democratic agenda, Bachmann told Mr. O鈥橰eilly.

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