My must read of the day is "Business Groups See Loss of Sway Over House G.O.P." in the New York Times:
As the government shutdown grinds toward a potential debt default, some of the country’s most influential business executives have come to a conclusion all but unthinkable a few years ago: Their voices are carrying little weight with the House majority that their millions of dollars in campaign contributions helped build and sustain.
Their frustration has grown so intense in recent days that several trade association officials warned in interviews on Wednesday that they were considering helping wage primary campaigns against Republican lawmakers who had worked to engineer the political standoff in Washington.
Such an effort would thrust Washington’s traditionally cautious and pragmatic business lobby into open warfare with the Tea Party faction, which has grown in influence since the 2010 election and won a series of skirmishes with the Republican establishment in the last two years.
Campaign finance is why the first instinct of the Tea Party "firebrands" is to reach out to the grassroots. The Tea Party does not have the same allegiance to the business community because the business community has never really provided the money for their infrastructure. In fact the Tea Party often has just as many bad things to say about Wall Street as it does about big government. Jenny Beth Martin is not hobnobbing with Goldman Sachs bankers. Grassroots organizations, small donors, and small businesses were vital in the campaigns of Tea Party lawmakers. That is where its allegiance lies.
The real question is whether or not this type of fundraising is sustainable in the long run.