The tea baggers are starting to remind me of my ex-mother-in-law, who always used her bags at least twice. No matter how long you let it steep, the product is weak and watery. The same could be said for trying to recycle the grassroots angst of the tea baggers. Reusing those same patsies over and over, as the astroturf string-pullers are doing, is beginning to lose its potency.

Witness the the defeat of Conservate Party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York and the fizzle of Operation House Call, an effort led by Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.). It was to begin at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, lobbying 13 lawmakers with phone calls, emails, and faxes protesting their plan to produce meaningful health care reform.

…a quick survey of some of the 13 targeted senators’ offices suggests that the “attack” has barely registered on the Hill. Kimberly Hunter, a spokeswoman for Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) says that at a little after 3:30 on Tuesday, her office hadn’t seen any uptick in calls or visits. If the tea partiers do call, she adds, “We’re happy to listen to their opinions.” Likewise, a spokesman for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), another target on the patriots’ list, says the office has fielded a few calls from people saying they are coming to Thursday’s press conference—but overall the volume has been “nothing unusual.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the official tea party website indicated that only 25 patriots were on hand for “Operation House Call.”

While the press is busy thinking of new ways to proclaim the two Republican victories in this year’s governors’ races a referendum on Obama, there is less focus on the referendum on Sarah Palin and the far, far rightwing that took place in New York’s District 23 race. The scary-looking Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was defeated by a Democrat, despite people like Palin and Fred Thompson lending their famous support, and despite Republicans holding that seat since it was created 16 years ago in 1993.

The big bucks continue to flow to the tea party movement but it might have to morph into something that appeals to people with higher than grade school reading skills if it has a future. Sites like DontKillGrandma.com can only keep manipulating the little people for so long. The site is professionally produced by FreedomWorks, headed by lobbyist Dick Armey, who appeared on the campaign stump with Hoffman. Other aligned groups are equally well-funded.

Americans for Prosperity, which has taken the lead in the current fight against reform, is a front group for oil billionaires David and Charles Koch, co-owners of the world’s largest private oil and gas conglomerate.

On the other hand, as the deaths by gunshot of the gun-totin’ soccer mom attest (and a local killing that looks pro-gun related), the frontline little folks might be their own worst enemies. As one of the patriots on DontKillGrandma suggested, “Can we hold sit-ins across the country in the middle of America’s busiest highways. That might get their attention.” Brilliant idea! The tea baggers should be gone in no time with tactics like that.