Is the next week and a half the most important in the history of the Tea Party?

As the GOP brings its traveling circus to the Deep South this week, some prominent Tea Party members think the movement is at a crossroads, and only a victory by somebody not named Mitt Romney can stop it from being derailed as a national force in 2012.

Radio talk show host Gina Loudon, considered one of the pioneers in the movement nationally, told BBC radio on Wednesday that the next 11 days are the most important days for the Tea Party since since its creation nearly three years ago.

Mind you, that's not somebody from MSNBC declaring this — it's a key member of the national movement.

Why the intensity? Well, lest we forget, though Mitt Romney is obviously looking pretty unstoppable on his way to the Republican nomination for president, he has never been the favorite of that group, which has been the driver of GOP politics throughout the country since Barack Obama's election.

This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.