A Liberal Tea Party?

The debates surrounding the cromnibus budget bill got me wondering.  I find it very positive that we have something of a back to normal in the way the parties aligned.  The extreme wings of the GOP and the Dems were both against it and the moderates (or what is left of them) of both parties joined together to pass it.  The contents of the bill are unfortunate in many ways, but there could be some long term promise in the way the negotiations went down.

But here is what I am thinking this morning. Four years ago when the Tea Party started feeling its oats, they went a little crazy.  It makes sense as an opposition party to highlight your differences.  When you are the extreme wing of the opposition party, you have to exaggerate a little if you want to set yourself apart.  But they started “living their hyperbole” (I made that line up, what do you think?), otherwise known as buying their own bullshit.  And the fact that their constituencies were quite apt at self-delusion, the people who really believed in these extremes rose to become movement leaders.

So here is the question for the day.  What will the emerging Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic party do next year when they become the extreme wing of the opposition party?  Will they start to live the liberal version of their hyperbole?  Or will they stay reasonable and pull the rest of the party left?