THE BASE TAKES OVER FROM THE BELTWAY:

Pairing of religious conservatism with fiscal sets Iowa tea partiers apart (Amy Gardner, 2/03/11, Washington Post)

Although that sort of mixing of fiscal and social conservatism may suit Iowans just fine, it represents a departure for the tea party movement that could threaten its brand and turn away voters who were drawn to its narrower message last year. With the political world focused on the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses for the next year, that could have a profound effect across the country on the tea party and the candidates courting it.

The movement is not as well-organized in Iowa as it is in other states. The national groups that have helped train, organize and fund tea party organizations across the country have less of a presence here, in part because their exclusive focus on free-market priorities puts them at odds with the evangelical movement that controls the state's Republican Party apparatus.

Sixty percent of GOP caucus-goers in the 2008 presidential election described themselves as evangelical Christians, and they were largely the reason Mike Huckabee won the state. If Huckabee enters the race this time, he will be widely viewed as an instant front-runner in Iowa - even though he increased taxes and spending as governor of Arkansas.

"We have a very different tea party," said Ryan Rhodes, founder of the Iowa Tea Party, which has organized rallies on the steps of the state Capitol in Des Moines.