Are tea parties crippling (or saving) the GOP in the North Country?

The Wall Street Journal has a new story up today about the “tea party” movement that’s datelined Plattsburgh, NY.

Yup, another look at the NY-23 race in the context of the national political scene. According to Naftali Bendavid’s report:

The rise of conservative “tea party” activists around the country has created a dilemma for Republicans. They are breathing life into the party’s quest to regain power. But they’re also waging war on some candidates hand-picked by GOP leaders as the most likely to win.

The Journal’s case-study is Conservative Doug Hoffman’s wildly successful flank attack on Republican Dede Scozzafava.

By all accounts, he’s been a devastating force on the GOP’s efforts to hold the seat, which was once considered as safe as any NY district can be for Republicans.

(Democrat Bill Owens now leads by 4 points…)

Tea partiers have targeted other moderate Republicans, including Charlie Crist in Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.

They’ve also sandbagged prominent Republican leaders, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, accusing him of making “a pact with the devil” by pursuing bi-partisan deals in Congress.

On Monday, we’ll talk in-depth with Mark Barie, a Plattsburgh businessman (and a former fellow journalist who hosted a PBS show on Mountain Lake) who’s leading the tea party movement in the North Country.

He describes himself as a “disaffected” Republican, disgusted by profligate spending during the Bush presidency. Tune in for more during the 8 O’clock Hour on Monday.