The U.S. political world has been chattering and clamoring over the tea party’s rise within the Republican Party, and the notable victim it claimed a week ago, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

But this Tuesday, it appears quite possible a leading Democrat will fall to one of two challengers.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-charles-rangel-20140621-story.html

New York U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel has represented the Harlem district of New York City since The Flood. He’s a decorated Korean War veteran and a one-time chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Then he got into some serious ethical troubles. The House censured him and stripped him of his chairmanship.

He stayed on.

Now Rangel is facing a stout challenge from Adriano Espaillat and Michael Walrond in New York’s upcoming Democratic primary on Tuesday. A fourth candidate also is on the ballot, but she’s been invisible.

The odds are looking as though Rangel will go down to defeat. Espaillat appears to be the favorite.

New York doesn’t have a runoff rule that requires the winner to get 50 percent of the vote to declare outright victory. In New York, all the winner needs is more votes than whoever finishes second.

Rangel represents that old-time back-slapping pol who everyone knows in the district. The problem for him appears that everyone now seems to know him too well.

He’s worn out, tired, used up — or so it seems to many observers.

Rangel also has that recent history of ethical misconduct involving whether he took money from special interests.

If Rangel does go down Tuesday, then there might be far more at play here than just one party eating its own. There indeed might be a tidal wave about the sweep through Congress.

Let’s all hold on for a turbulent election year.