Real News From The Blaze:' Is Nebraska Upset a Tea Party Win?

A few weeks ago not too many people outside of Nebraska knew who State Sen. Deb Fischer was. One person who did know her though was Sarah Palin, and largely thanks to Palin's endorsement, Fischer was the talk of the town in Washington D.C. and newsrooms across the country Wednesday. The rancher and Nebraska state senator won the Republican U.S. Senate primary in the cornhusker state Tuesday, beating two other more well-known, better funded and Tea Party-backed Republicans. The Washington Post reports:

The result is a major upset; until last week, state Attorney General Jon Bruning was the overwhelming favorite in this primary. Throughout the race, he had the most money and establishment support.

Many will argue that Fischer’s victory is the latest in a line of tea party upsets. But it was state TreasurerDon Stenberg who attracted support from conservatives put off by Bruning’s college liberalism, rather than Fischer. It was only in the past week that Fischer won the support of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain.

The Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund (backed by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint) combined to spend more than $2 million on the race against Bruning and in support of Stenberg.

The primary result has drawn varied conclusions; some question whether this is another Tea Party upset, some say the result is only the latest confirmation of Sarah Palin's "kingmaker" ability, some wonder if Fischer benefited as the last woman standing after out-of-state funded attacks between Bruning and Stenberg made the two candidates unappealing to voters.

Andrew Roth of Club For Growth joined "Real News" Wednesday to discuss the Nebraska race, as well as a new Club For Growth "Freshman Vote Study," which amounts to a report card for the 87 House Republicans who entered office in 2010 thanks the Tea Party movement.

"Did all 87 freshmen always vote to cut spending and limit the size of government, or did some of them vote like the big-spending R.I.N.Os of the past? " the study asks. Unfortunately, only 3 of the 87 new House Republicans scored a 100 percent rating from Club for Growth.

Watch a clip from Roth's appearance on "Real News" Wednesday: