That's how the Tea Party won its primary battles: the excitement of their national movement, even though it was confined to a narrow subculture, was enough in some places to overwhelm dutiful establishment voters.
In 2004, the US presidential primaries offered little excitement.
21 primary, but probably less electoral excitement.
The excitement among Democratic primary voters, while not unprecedented, may represent the greatest level of political passion since the Republicans eight years ago.
John Cordisco, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Party, said the change was driven by disgust with the Bush administration and excitement over the primary between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
When I interviewed him in April, in the offices of Promise Arizona, he recalled the extraordinary excitement of the primary voters.
THE BUZZ: The spot seeks to generate excitement among Republican primary voters who loathe Mrs. Clinton, while giving Mr. Giuliani the aura of a front-runner likely to challenge the senator, who remains atop many polls of Democrats.
For some it was socially accepted to start smoking as an adolescent after primary school, others sought the excitement of doing something considered wrong.
Most of the excitement in the primaries came on the Republican side, as Bush faced a stiff challenge from John McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona; other candidates included businessman Steve Forbes, diplomat and conservative commentator Alan Keyes, U.S. senator Orrin Hatch, and conservative activist Gary Bauer.
THE West usually comes late to the primary season, by which point the excitement is over.
